The present days
by T.M.K.06
Summary: House disappears for 2 weeks, when he returns he has a little someone with him. No importance given to ships, but some kind of Huddy and CamChase, though the latter is shortlived. Contains references from eps up to S3 Needle in the Haystack. Some angst.
1. The phone call

_After a mysterious phone call, House disappears for a week, when he returns he has a surprise with him. _

_And no they are not mine though they still refuse to leave me alone to GET ON WITH MY LIFE!_

_Oh, and the "one-word conversation" on the phone – I do not speak the language in question which is why I kept House's answers short (i.e. one word), I hope I got the words right, but if it looks all wrong, sorry._

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_**Fujiwara no Kiyosuke** _

If I should live long,  
Then perhaps the present days  
May be dear to me,  
Just as past time filled with grief  
Comes quietly back in thought.

-----------------------------------------

They had just solved a case and were having a well earned break. It was after midnight, but they were both too tired and too elated to go home: they had saved the kid and it felt good. House, of course, was not really celebrating, he was just quietly smug – or so it seemed to Foreman and Chase. Cameron didn't see the smugness she just saw _happy_, but then she was practically born with rose coloured contacts in her eyes.

House had just poured himself a mug of coffee when the phone rang. He almost told Cameron to get it, but as he was standing already and it was somewhat curious to get a call this time of the night he went to the phone. For a moment he stared at the number on the display almost disbelieving his eyes. Then he answered.

"Hai."

Foreman raised his eyebrows at the greeting. He would have thought that House would have had something much more colourful to say to someone trying to reach him this time of the night than just "Hey". But it was the rest of the _conversation_ that really got his attention just as it aroused the curiosity of Chase and Cameron as well.

"Hai," House repeated again, listening very carefully to what was said at the other end. "Itsu? ... Watashi? ... Hai ... Hai ... Sokuzani ... Hai ... Ashita ... Adiosu." House put the phone down and stared at it for a moment. "Cuddy is probably still in her office, I have to see him. Cameron, would you see if you can book me a flight to Tokyo? The first one you can find, I need to get there as soon as possible."

"Tokyo?" Cameron repeated. "As in Japan?"

"Yep, as in Japan," House confirmed and walked out of the room to find Cuddy.

------------

As House had predicted Cuddy was still in her office pushing papers. She looked up a House's entrance.

"I hear you saved yet another life," she smiled. "Well done."

"Yeah, you can ask Foreman get you the paperwork so you can bill the parents," House answered almost absently. Cuddy could not believe her ears. "I need some time off."

"All of a sudden?" Cuddy shook her head trying to determine whether House was really in her office or if she was just having a weird hallucination due to lack of sleep. "I mean, sure you have leave that you haven't taken, but why do you want to talk about it now? In the middle of the night?"

"Because I need it now, starting this minute and I don't know for sure for how long," House revealed.

"Not going to happen," Cuddy dismissed his request as a joke – or a hallucination.

"Fine," House nodded, "You'll have my resignation on your desk first thing come morning." He turned to go.

"Resignation!" Cuddy stood up. "House, are you for real or have I fallen asleep at my desk or just gone plain crazy?"

"I'm for real," House sighed. Cuddy stared at him waiting to find some sign that he was kidding her or playing an elaborate prank or something, but he seemed serious. "I need to leave for Japan as soon as I can get a flight." House told her.

"Ok...," Cuddy came to stand in front of him with her arms crossed.

"Love it when you do that," House appreciated. Cuddy moved one arm to cover her cleavage. "Spoilsport."

"Look, if you want time off, you better tell me why," Cuddy demanded. "You cannot just waltz in here, tell me that you are going to Japan no matter what, and expect me to just tell you to take as much time off as you want!"

"Fine," House agreed. "I don't have time to go into the whole story, but an old friend needs me in Japan. I think I ought to be back within a week, but I don't know for sure because I don't know yet what exactly is going to happen in there. But I have to go, even if it means quitting my job. I will let you know when I will be back as soon as I know it myself."

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" Cuddy admonished him. "Ok, you can go but keep me posted."

"Thanks, Cuddy," House said. "I appreciate this."

"Enough to do double duty in the clinic when you return?" Cuddy smiled.

"Sorry Cuddy, you should have bargained first, before you agreed," House smirked and limped out of her office.

----------------

Cameron had found a 9 o'clock flight that would take House to Tokyo in fourteen hours, she gave him a lift home, helped him to get ready and waited for the cab with him; she also promised to let Wilson know what had happened (not that she knew what THAT was).

------------

Next morning Wilson was sitting in Cuddy's office talking about House's sudden departure.

"I didn't know he had any friends in Tokyo?" Wilson puzzled.

"I didn't know he had any friends, period," Cuddy shrugged.

"Hey, I'm his friend," Wilson protested, "and you didn't know about Dylan Crandall, either, so obviously there is a chance he has friends we don't know about."

"Sure, but my first guess would have been that those friends are of the imaginary kind," Cuddy pondered.

"I admit, this sounds strange, but Cameron confirmed that he got a phone call from Japan – or at least he spoke Japanese on the phone, so his story could be true," Wilson pointed out.

"I know the call came from Japan, I checked this morning," Cuddy revealed.

"You checked his phone records!" Wilson exclaimed.

"I only trust him so far," Cuddy explained. "Though we both know how much he hates travelling so it would need to be something really important to get him to go all the way to Tokyo. And Cameron did book him the flight."

"Did you check that he really was on that flight?" Wilson asked jokingly. Cuddy blushed. "You did! Boy, you really don't trust him."

"It's not that, not really," Cuddy denied. "I do trust him, with a lot of things, but he has been known to pull pretty wild stunts to avoid clinic duty and as they just finished the last case, I just felt unsure. So I checked."

"You don't have any connections to hospitals in Tokyo, do you?" Wilson asked after a moment.

"No. Why?" Cuddy wanted to know.

"No reason," Wilson shrugged. "I just thought that if the problem is a medical one, it is possible that someone in a hospital would know about it. House is pretty famous all over the world, so if he is visiting a hospital in Tokyo it is possible most hospitals in Tokyo know about it."

"Interesting idea," Cuddy mused. "Too bad that I really don't have any connections. Not even once removed. That is any connections that I would trust, because it would not look good if I had to _spy_ on one of my own doctors. It might give people an idea that I don't know what is going on in my own hospital."

"Perish the thought," Wilson agreed.

-----------------------------

Cuddy and Wilson were not the only ones who were pondering on House's sudden departure. His ducklings were talking about it, too.

"What do you think the phone call was all about?" Foreman asked Chase and Cameron.

"I know that _hai_ means _yes_, but other than that, I have no idea what he said," Chase said. "Though it was not much, so I don't think we would know anything even if we had understood him."

"He told me that a friend of his needed help," Cameron revealed. "But that was all he was prepared say. I don't even know if the friend is male of female."

"Wasn't his father once stationed in Japan?" Foreman mused.

"I think so," Chase agreed. "Do you think it could be someone from that time?"

"But wasn't he only fourteen or so then?" Cameron wondered. "Wouldn't it be more likely that any friends he made were the other military kids?"

"Probably," Chase agreed. "It is quite possible that the friend in question is just staying in Tokyo for now, there is no reason to assume that Tokyo is where they first met."

"Mind you we don't even know if he is staying in Tokyo," Foreman pointed out. "Just because he flew to Tokyo does not mean he didn't go somewhere else in Japan."

"But what could it be," Cameron pondered. "What could make him fly to the other side of the planet? I mean, great, it's great that he is willing to travel over half the world to help a friend, but what kind of friend and what kind of help?"

"I wouldn't have thought he would travel even across the hospital to help someone," Chase flipped. "Unless it was some really rare and interesting illness, and I don't think it could be, the phone call was way too short."

"You know, we have work to do," Foreman reminded them. "Wondering about House and his actions is pointless. We are surely not going to guess what he is up to, and I will be fairly surprised if he will tell us even when he returns. So unless he makes headlines, or Cuddy or Wilson can force the story out of him – and is willing to share with us, we will never find out why he went to Japan."

"You could be right," Cameron admitted. "But it's not easy to stop speculating anyway."

"Besides, what else are we going to talk about," Chase pointed out. "It's not like we have a case and the patients we meet at the clinic go only so far. House may be an utter bastard, but he is interesting."

"I suppose," Foreman agreed. "But I'm still fairly sure we can find other things to talk about until her returns, whenever that may be."

-------------------

Next day Cuddy got a phone call from House to confirm that he was going to be back in ten days.


	2. Little love

_Thank you for the reviews! I think the updating of this story will mostly take place during week-ends and I have no idea how long this will be, probably not very. It all depends on for how long they will want to play with me – they do have a bit of a mind of their own._

_The words House used in the phone call were (at least I hope they were): yes, when, me, right away, tomorrow, goodbye. I think in that order. As I said, I don't know any Japanese, so that is the only lesson on that language you will get from me :) _

_-------------------------_

On Friday, ten days after House's sudden departure, Cuddy got a phone call from him.

"I'm home," House announced baldly. "Is there anything urgent that needs to be seen to before Monday?"

"Hello, House, good to hear from you, too!" Cuddy nearly stuttered in surprise and indignation. This was, after all, the second call from him though he had promised to keep her posted. "No, there is nothing that needs to be done before Monday. Your team has had a couple of cases, but they didn't have any problems with them. It seems you have actually managed to teach them a trick or two."

"Good," House said a little absently. "I may need to rely on them more in the future. I'll see you first thing on Monday. We need to talk. Something has happened that may affect my work. Also I need to ask you something. Something rather big." At that he closed the phone and left Cuddy sitting at her desk stunned.

"How rude was that!" Cuddy huffed, and dialled Wilson's number.

Wilson, however, was of no help. He, too, had received a call from House telling that he was home, but House had made it clear that he did not want to see his best friend before Monday. Nor could Wilson enlighten Cuddy on that _something_ that House wanted from her. They were both clueless.

-----------------------------------

Eight o'clock on Monday morning Cuddy was in her office, getting ready for the day, when House wheeled himself in – with the help of one of the nurses. Cuddy stared. Her mind refused to process the information he saw. First of all it was eight o'clock. House was never in the hospital that early – unless he was just leaving after having stayed in his office all night. And he was sitting in a wheelchair with a shawl covering him from knees to throat! Why? The bet was over, Cuddy had got the impression that House had been happy to leave the chair – and not only because standing up, he had a better view of her cleavage. Had something happened in Japan? Had he gone there to try some experimental treatment and it had failed?

"House!" Cuddy exclaimed standing up. "What ...?"

"Relax," House told her, pushing the shawl away from him now that the nurse was gone. "My leg is same as before. Which means it's too unsteady for me to risk walking while I carry her."

By that time Cuddy was already staring at _her_. House had a baby wrapped against his chest! Sure, Cuddy couldn't see more than some dark hair and a little of her face peeking from under the dark wrap, but it was a baby – seemingly sleeping comfortably against House. The end of the world – at least as she new it – had come. She sat back down abruptly.

"Umm ... oh... hmmm," Cuddy felt like she had forgotten how to produce words; finally she got the question out. "What is going on?"

"I have acquired myself a daughter," House stated.

"Right," Cuddy nodded sagely. "Of course you have." She stared at House shaking her head. "That didn't clarify anything House."

"I know," House agreed. "It's a long story." At that point the baby started to wake up and fuss. House tried to get to his back-bag for something, but couldn't reach without jostling the infant. "Could you give me your stethoscope?" He asked Cuddy.

"What is wrong with her?" Cuddy asked giving the instrument to House, who promptly put the earpieces into the baby's ears and the chestpiece against his own heart. The baby calmed down immediately. "What did you do?"

"Come on, Cuddy," House looked at her like she ought to have figured that one out herself. "You know these parasites stay inside the host – or should I say hostess as it's invariably the female of the species? – Anyway, they stay inside for the first nine or so months of their existence listening to all the interesting and loud noises that the human body makes. Once they are outside, things can get a bit weird, so the familiar sounds calm her down."

"Of course, why didn't I think of that," Cuddy exclaimed rubbing her forehead. She was definitely coming down with something – a slight case of lunacy maybe?

"But back to the story," House sighed. "When I was fourteen my father was stationed in Japan. While there I met this doctor, who really inspired me to become a doctor myself. He was the go-to-guy. When no other doctor knew what was wrong with the patient they called on him. The thing was that that was the only time they did go to him. Other times they ignored, ostracized him because he was a _hinin_, a buraku – one of the untouchables. Once I finished medical school I went back to Japan for a year. I was not licensed to practice there, naturally, so I got a job in the morgue of the hospital where he worked. I spent a year doing autopsies under his supervision, finding out what really had killed the patients. He was my mentor. Once I came back, we didn't really keep in touch, just enough to make sure that if needed we could reach each other. He was the one who phoned me."

Cuddy was listening to House in absolute silence, she barely dared to breath. House rubbed his temple and went on explaining.

"His son and daughter-in-law were in an accident. They had been on their way to the hospital because Noriko's contractions had started. They were hit by a drunk-driver. The son died instantly, but Noriko was still alive when she was brought in. She didn't survive but they managed to save the baby. Noriko's parents had disowned her for marrying a buraku and as Benjiro was an only child Akira was left with the baby. He is not young anymore and his wife passed away two years ago, taking care of a baby would not have been easy, nor could he be sure for how long he would be around for her. Also he wanted something better for his granddaughter than what she was likely to have in Japan – even with the recent improvements on the status of burakus. He called me because I'm the only one who could help him, the only one he could ask."

"Who in his right mind would give you a child?" Cuddy stared.

"Hey, I'm not that bad!" House pretended to be insulted. "I'm a doctor, I have a steady job, I have friends and family – at least on paper I have – and frankly, I may suck as an option, but not as badly as the other one she had."

"But it can't be that bad," Cuddy protested. "If your friend was able to study to be a doctor, then how can this buraku thing be so bad? Surely his grandchild would have equal opportunities to become anything she wants?"

"Japanese society is nothing if not complex," House smiled. "It has been illegal to discriminate against burakus since 1871, but laws don't change people. Burakus were the ones who dealt with death: executioners, gravediggers, slaughterers and so on, the impure tasks of life. That is a stain not easily removed from minds. Though there has been active movement for improving their lot with laws and improved education it still takes a very strong-minded person to go to university where the other students in all likelihood will not talk to you or interact with you in any way. Even teachers may ostracize you. Sure, nobody will stop you from learning; they just leave you alone. Completely alone. Things have improved significantly since 1960's, especially as now even some public figures, like the politician Hiromu Nonaka, acknowledge publicly their buraku roots. But change is slow, and as usual, boys will benefit sooner than girls. The next generation will have it better than the one before, but it will take at least two generations before we can talk about any kind of equality."

"So he gave his granddaughter to you, so you could give her a better future?" Cuddy clarified.

"Yep, and it was an offer I could not refuse," House shrugged. "And this brings me to the next thing on my list of things to discuss."

"And that is?" Cuddy wondered.

"I need you to be her legal guardian if anything happens to me," House stated rocking Cuddy's world. "I need you to take care of her, if anything prevents me from taking care of her, be it death, coma or another run with Tritter or someone like him with different results than last time. And I need it on paper."

"You want me?" Cuddy asked stunned.

"That is exactly what I said to Akira when he told me that he wanted me to adopt his granddaughter," House revealed. "And my answer to you is the same as his was to me: wouldn't have anyone else."

"What about Wilson?" Cuddy stuttered. "He is your best friend, after all."

"True, but he is not that good with kids – unless they have cancer, of course," House explained. "Besides, his taste in women is hopeless. And he gets divorced on regular basis. So I'm not so sure he could provide my girl with a sufficiently steady home. Also, the women in his life are not very good role models; unlike you."

"Ahm," Cuddy gasped for some air first. "In that case I'm honoured by your request and I promise I will do my very best with her, if ever she needs me."

"Thank you," House said. "Could you get the hospital lawyers on it right away? Like today?"

"Absolutely," Cuddy nodded.

"Ok. Fine." House checked the baby and took the stethoscope away giving it back to Cuddy. The little girl slept on. "I will hire a nanny as soon as I can, but with my work schedule I need to have my daughter stay in my office quite a lot. At lest until she is old enough to go to the day-care. I'm having some stuff delivered this morning for that, if it's ok with you?"

"Sure, I'm sure we can work something out," Cuddy agreed, still a little stunned at the speed things were changing right under her nose.

"Thanks," House said and turned his chair ready to leave. "Come on then, Little Love; let's introduce you to the ducklings."

"Little love?!" Cuddy was unable to swallow her surprise. She had never heard House use endearments before.

"No, Cuddy, I have not gone all soft just because I'm now a Daddy," House threw at her over his shoulder. "It's just her name."

"Little Love House?" Cuddy repeated sceptically – and feeling not a little amount of pity for the poor kid.

"Aiko," House corrected. "Her name is Aiko House. Aiko just happens to mean Little Love. It's the name her mother had chosen for her."

"Aiko," Cuddy tried it. "It's a pretty name."

"It's ok," House agreed as he wheeled himself towards the door. Cuddy got there to open it for him. "Oh, and Cuddy, would you reach inside my back-bag," House asked. Cuddy did as told and found a bottle of old whiskey. She took it out and looked at House questioningly. "For you; to wet the baby's head." House told her.

"Thank you," Cuddy said. "I'll see you here at the end of the day then and we'll toast your new family."

"No, you have to do that all by yourself," House revealed ruefully. "I'm not drinking anymore."

"What? Why?" Cuddy was surprised.

"I cannot give up my painkillers, but I need to start taking better care of myself and especially my liver," House explained with a grimace. "So off with the booze and I'll probably even start eating better."

"Really? Well I'm happy to hear that, but why now? Why not before, when we tried to talk you into taking better care of yourself," Cuddy wondered.

"It wasn't important before," House shrugged. "Now I need to try and live for at least eighteen more years." With that he rolled out of Cuddy's office.

Cuddy stared at his retreating back in wonder until he disappeared inside the lift. She then returned to her desk and sat down with every intention of getting on with her work, but thirty minutes later she was still sitting at her desk staring at the phone and trying to wrap her mind over the idea of House as a father. Finally she shook herself awake and reached for the phone to call the hospital lawyers to start on the papers House had wanted. This was going to be a very interesting day, for all. She did wonder how Wilson was going to take the news.


	3. Father of the Century

Wilson was waiting for House with the ducklings. House had called him the previous night and told him that he would be at the hospital by eight o'clock to talk with Cuddy and that he wanted to see Wilson right after that. Wilson was more than sceptical about House's ability to really be at the hospital that early, but he didn't have any pressing cases and Cameron's coffee was superb.

"So did House tell you anything about what took him to Japan?" Chase wanted to know.

"No, not a word," Wilson denied. "He said that he would explain everything today, but that was all. Except that he said I would find it very hard to believe."

"Well, him going half across the world to help a friend is in itself hard to believe," Foreman pointed out.

"Yes, we know you think that," Cameron nearly snapped. "You have said it almost every day since he left."

"Ooh, watch out," Chase laughed. "Cameron is getting defensive. Lay off the man or she will refuse to make the coffee or something."

"Or serve it hot right on your lap," Cameron told him. "Not that that would be much of a loss."

"Ouch, that was mean," Foreman laughed.

"Settle down," Wilson tried to pour oil on the stormy waters. "House is back and we'll find out what it was all about today."

"If he deigns to enlighten us," Chase muttered. Hardly were the words out of his mouth than House wheeled himself inside the room.

"Well, well," House looked around. "It seems you have more or less behaved yourselves even when Daddy's been away."

"Some Daddy you..wooh..." Wilson turned to greet House and all air escaped his lungs in surprise as he saw House in the wheelchair with a baby. The ducklings had turned to stare as well.

"Nope, not _some daddy_, I'm the Daddy, now," House gleefully told them. "Meet my daughter: Aiko."

"Your daughter?" Cameron repeated coming closer to take a look at the baby.

"Yep, all mine," House confirmed. "Would you mind holding her for a moment I need to get her bottle ready, she is getting hungry again."

"How do you know?" Chase asked staring at his boss with his eyes wide.

"She is making sucking motions with her mouth," House stated like it was the most obvious thing. He dug Aiko out of the wrap carefully and handed her to Cameron. Once the baby was securely in Cameron's arms House stood up, unwrapped the baby-wrap from around him and started to rummage his back-bag. He also detached his cane from the holder at the back of the chair.

"What's with the wheelchair?" Foreman felt compelled to ask.

"Can't risk falling when I'm holding the baby," House stated finding the bottle and taking it to the microwave. He nuked the bottle took it out, shook it and then tested the milk on his wrist. He limped to the desk, sat down and motioned Cameron to hand over the child. He draped the towel he had also taken from the bag to protect his shoulder and settled down to feed his daughter. Aiko latched greedily to the bottle.

"So, tell me what has been happening here while I was gone," House invited brightly his stunned audience.

"Here?" Wilson asked. "Who cares what happened here! You... I ... You better start telling us what happened to YOU! And where did you get that baby?"

"Don't shout, you'll scare her," House admonished his friend. "Ok, fine, I'll tell you." He checked Aiko but she was still happily occupied with the bottle and though she didn't eat terribly much, she took her time about it, so the bottle was going to last till the story was told. "I have an old friend in Japan. His son and daughter-in-law were in a car accident that killed them. Aiko was born after that, but they were not able to save her mother. Akira is a widower and not that young anymore, so he didn't think he was the best possible guardian for his granddaughter, therefore he asked me to adopt her."

"Just like that? Wouldn't it have been better for Aiko if her grandfather had found a Japanese friend to adopt her?" Cameron wondered.

"The problem with that is that Akira wanted something better for Aiko than what she could have in Japan. They are burakus, you see, the untouchables. The only families that would have agreed to adopt Aiko in Japan would have been buraku themselves, so she would not have been any better off with them than with her grandfather. I was the only one outside Japan Akira could ask for something this big." House explained. Not that it was much of an explanation since it left his audience wondering what could possibly be the relationship between these two friends that would enable the older man to ask House for something like this – and get what he asked too. There had to be some very big debt there on House's part for that to happen.

"What are the untouchables?" Foreman asked.

"Jews in Nazi Germany, Blacks in segregation South, you know, the people that the rest of the society wants to segregate from the _normal_ people." House said. "It's illegal now, but people haven't changed."

"So you adopted her and brought her here to give her a chance to be all she can be?" Cameron asked.

"I suppose you could say that," House nodded. "Anyway, she is going to be around you guys quite a lot, so get used to her. Oh, and her stuff will be delivered to my office soon, so stick around and you can help with the unpacking."

"Oh, I have clinic duty," Foreman suddenly remembered.

"And I promised to be in the NICU this morning," Chase followed his colleague's example. Only Cameron and Wilson remained.

"That cleared the room nicely," House mused taking the empty bottle away from Aiko and raising her against his shoulder and rubbing her back. She gave a couple of hick-ups and then rested comfortably. "Any questions you two have? Because if you do, make it snappy, I need to change her soon – if she follows her normal pattern and she invariably does."

"You seem awfully handy with this fathering thing," Wilson stared.

"It's a baby," House shrugged. "It's not that difficult. They eat, poop and sleep, usually in that order. You see that they get fed, changed, washed and stay warm and that's it. It's not like brain surgery or even advanced diagnostics."

"Precisely," Cameron said. "Something so routine would normally make you run for the hills, or something. Aren't you bored to death?"

"Well, it's not fun, I admit," House made a face. "But it has to be done. And Aiko is ok. She likes music, she has pretty regular habits – talking of which, could you hand the diaper bag from the back of the chair to me."

"Ok now it's my time to leave," Wilson said. "Seeing you care for a baby like this, is too weird to digest all at one go. I've had enough for now. I'll go and see Cuddy."

"Before you go," House called after him as he gave Aiko to Cameron to hold while he got the diaper and things from the bag ready. "I asked Cuddy if she would be Aiko's legal guardian if something happened to me."

"Oh," Wilson was disconcerted.

"It's not that I don't trust you, Jimmy," House told him. "But Cuddy is a woman. I think Aiko needs a steady female influence in her life, too."

"Ok," Wilson nodded, though he didn't quite know what to think.

"You will still be her _Uncle Jimmy_, you know," House reminded his friend.

"Yes, I suppose I will be," Wilson agreed and turned to go.

"Just remember, that by the time she is eighteen you will be way too old to marry her," House shouted at him as he walked down the corridor towards the lifts.

"House!" Wilson turned to growl at House with exasperation, but he was smiling as he entered the lift. As was House until he turned to the task in hand.

"Cameron, you wouldn't want to do this?" House asked.

"Nope, not when the expert is in the house," Cameron smiled and backed away from House after handing Aiko to him.

--------------------

Wilson found Cuddy in her office. They both stared at each other for a moment trying to find words to express their shock.

"He is a father," Cuddy finally said.

"I left him to change a diaper," Wilson revealed.

"House? Himself?" Cuddy couldn't believe her ears. "He didn't draft Cameron to do it?"

"If he did, he did it after I left," Wilson told her.

"I think the world just shifted on its axis this morning and I'm not even close to understanding any of it," Cuddy sighed.

"He said that he had asked you to be Aiko's guardian if anything happened to him," Wilson voiced the thought topmost on his mind.

"Yes he did," Cuddy nodded. "Are you ok with it? I think he wants a female influence on Aiko's life."

"That is what he told me," Wilson said. "And I'm ok with it. I'm stunned with all this, but I'm definitely ok with him asking you to do this."

"Stunned is definitely the word for it," Cuddy agreed. "I was sure I was hallucinating when he came in this morning. And he seems so comfortable with her!"

"Actually, when one thinks about it, I'm not sure it is so surprising," Wilson pondered. "I mean, a baby's needs are very basic. He only needs to feed her, change her, wash her and make sure she has a safe place to sleep in. Even if she gets ill or something like that, for now it's easy. All he needs to do is observe and draw conclusions. And that comes more than naturally to him. It's when the kid grows older and needs more; you know things like understanding, and love and emotional support that I see the difficulties arising."

"You are probably right," Cuddy had to concede. "Though I'm not so sure he will have problems later on either. By the time Aiko needs more than her physical needs seen to this _parasite_ may well have wormed her way into his heart for real. In fact I think it is already happening. After all he is already choosing to sit in a wheelchair for her. He didn't have to do that. Nobody forced him to transport the baby in a baby-wrap, next to his body. He could have used a buggy and keep his distance."

"True, but I still think that once the baby is older, getting him to show that love in ways that Aiko understands, may be a little more difficult than we think," Wilson pointed out.

"Then we will just have to teach him," Cuddy determined. "If you are going to be Aiko's uncle Jimmy and I'm going to be her Aunty Lisa, we have a duty to see to it that House will really be a Father to her, in the best sense of the word."

"There is just one problem with that," Wilson said ruefully.

"What?" Cuddy asked.

"Who are we going to use as a role model for this _father_?" Wilson wondered. "Mine wasn't that great, House hates his and for some reason I suspect your relationship with your father isn't exactly stellar either. And House's fellows aren't going to be much help either, Chase's father was a totally hopeless case, Foreman's seemed like a decent man, but I sensed something of a story there, too, and if House is right about Cameron being _damaged_ I'm not sure I want to ask her about her father, just in case that is where her damage came from."

"Well, at least we can combine our information and decide what NOT to do," Cuddy refused to be deterred. "We also know what we all wanted and didn't get. That, too is something we can use. I mean come on; we are three intelligent people, surely we can figure out how to raise one girl. It doesn't have to be a conventional upbringing as long as she is happy."

"I suppose we are all different enough for there to be a good chance that at least one of us will understand her," Wilson agreed. "Ok, it's a deal. You can count me in on the _House-as-the-father-of-the-century_ project."


	4. Working father

_Thanks for the reviews; I'm glad you like my little story :)_

_---------------------------_

"Where is House," Foreman asked Cameron as he walked back in the room about an hour after he had gone to the clinic. Aiko's things had arrived and House had a mini-nursery in the corner of his office, but House and Aiko were both missing – obviously together as his wheelchair was also gone.

"He said that he was going to give Aiko her bath," Cameron said. "Why?"

"I think we have a case," Foreman revealed. "Bath? Now? This time of the day?"

"Does it matter? As long as she gets her bath whatever time of the day," Cameron shrugged. "Besides, they are probably still in Tokyo time and the difference is fourteen hours."

"So where did he go?" Foreman wanted to know.

"I think he headed for the maternity ward," Cameron told him. "At least he ought to find all he needs there, possibly even someone to do the bathing for him."

"Well if he has someone doing the work for him, he can listen to us presenting the case," Foreman decided giving Cameron the file he had with him. "Let's get Chase from the NICU and go find House."

----------------------

The three musketeers got to the maternity ward but didn't see any sign of House there, at least not anywhere they expected him to be. Finally a nurse told them where to find him. They walked briskly towards the room and Chase opened the door meaning to walk in. However, he stopped dead on his tracks which caused Foreman and Cameron to barrel into him, as they hadn't expected him to turn to stone just there. They were all able to stay on their feet but their eventual entrance into the room was less than dignified. They also managed to startle Aiko, who started to cry.

House had obviously just finished bathing the baby as she was resting on a towel on top of the changing table. As soon as the team stumbled in she let out a startled cry and tensed her whole body; immediately House bend down over her, pressing his forearms to her sides and bringing his face right to her. He made a loud shushing noise and said:

"Easy now, Little Love, it's just the three stooges, nothing to worry about." He managed to calm Aiko down in no time.

"Oh, sorry about that," Chase awkwardly said after a short, awkward, pause. "I didn't think."

"Wow, that was a news flash," House flipped at him quietly. He reached for a bottle that was standing on the table and poured some oil in his hands. He rubbed it evenly over his hands, warming it and then he started to rub it gently all over Aiko. She was too small to smile or make meaningful sounds, but she obviously liked House's ministrations. He touched her cheeks gently, tickled her hands and feet, moved her legs and arms making her push against his hands while spreading the oil all over her whole body and humming a song to her at the same time, all the time watching her with his intense blue eyes.

"What are you doing?" Chase asked.

"What does it look like?" House asked back.

"You are spreading oil on her skin," Chase stated the obvious.

"You are testing her responses!" Foreman exclaimed. "You are checking that she is ok and responding to stimuli the way she should at her age."

"You are giving her a massage. You are bonding with her." Cameron sighed softly.

"I could have told you those were the things they were going to say even without hearing them," House said to Aiko. "Chase there always states the obvious, then Foreman – he is the dark one – comes up with something clinical or analytical and then Cameron, the girl, goes immediately for the emotional interpretation."

He then turned to his ducklings, though he still kept his voice soft so as not to startle Aiko. "I'm disappointed in you Chase; I would have thought a Brit would read the Lancet."

"I do read it," Chase ground from between his teeth. "I just don't have your total recall."

"Yes you do," House contradicted him. "You just choose not to use it, and that is what disappoints me. There was an article in the lancet a couple of years back about how using sunflower seed oil can reduce the number of infections among premies. Though Aiko is not a premie I am still using the oil on her skin as she needs all the help she can get since she cannot get antibodies from breast-milk from her mother. Besides she has also travelled to the other side of the world from the country of her birth and the familiar germs in there. But Foreman too is partly right; I am also testing her responses and muscles so that if something changes abruptly I will be able to tell. And it is not a massage; she is too young for that yet, her tummy and spine need a bit more time."

"What about the rest of Cameron's suggestion? Was she partially right, too?" Foreman prompted only to be ignored.

"I seriously doubt you barged in to observe my parenting skills," House suggested while pouring more oil into his hands and warming it again before turning Aiko on her tummy and starting on her back. "So what is it?"

"We have a case," Foreman announced.

"Have we?" House doubted. "Perhaps you can enlighten me on the symptoms so far and then I can either agree or disagree with that announcement."

"The patient is in his twenties, active and generally healthy. He had a sudden fit of rage followed by vomiting, convulsions, head-ache and finally a short cataleptic episode. He is now feeling nauseous and is running a fever," Foreman explained.

"Did you check if he was a hermaphrodite?" House asked him.

"Why would I do that?" Foreman frowned.

"Because he sounds a bit like Alex," Cameron reminded him. "Though your patient is clearly a man, so it is highly unlikely we will find a hidden set of testicles inside him, and I'm fairly sure we will not find any hidden ovaries, either."

"You never know," House mocked. "We have had bigger surprises in our times. But even so, the real problem with Alex was cancer and I'm not ready to go there yet; not with those symptoms. You said that he was active? In what way?"

"Horses," Cameron answered. "He does dressage."

"Ooh, that is classy!" House appreciated (yeah, sure). "I suppose he has done some travelling for that?"

"Not abroad," Chase told him. "He has gone all over the states, though. He got back from Florida just a week ago, and last month he was in Vermont. I can get a list of the places he has been to for the last year, if you want."

"No, I don't think we need more," House shook his head. He had finished with the oil and was now putting the diaper on Aiko and getting her dressed. "Test the patient for Eastern equine encephalitis and if that comes back negative, THEN we have a case."

"It's the wrong time of the year for that," Foreman insisted.

"In New Jersey," House nodded. "But not in Florida. Do the test."

"It may be encephalitis, but it has to be some other virus," Foreman persisted.

"It could be HSV or Epstein-Barr," Chase supported him.

"You can have all the fun you want with those viruses if I'm wrong," House told them while he sat down in his wheelchair and wrapped Aiko against his chest again. "Go, do the test I told you and when you find out I'm right, treat the patient. Now, I have more important things to do than diagnose boringly simple cases." He pushed his chair out of the room and headed towards the nurses station at the ward. Foreman and Chase shook their heads but left to do the ordered test.

"Cameron?" House questioned when he noticed that she didn't leave with her colleges but followed him.

"They can do the tests," Cameron shrugged. "I just thought I'd tag along in case you need someone to hold Aiko if you need to get up from your chair for something."

"Thank you for the thought," House said, not sounding particularly grateful at all. "But I'm fine; you can go and help the boys."

"I'm sure they will do just fine without me," Cameron ignored his suggestion. "I'm in no hurry to go anywhere."

Before House could persuade her otherwise, one of the nurses came up to him.

"Mrs. Hartig agreed to help you," the nurse told him. "This way," and she escorted him to a room where a new mother was staying with her baby – a boy, apparently. "Mrs. Hartig? Dr. House is here." The nurse left the room after the introduction. Cameron had decided to stay outside, but she could hear all that was said in the room.

"I'm Karen, Dr. House," Mrs. Hartig said. "The nurse told me about your problem and I'm happy to be able to help."

"Call me Greg," House offered. "Are you sure? I'm more than grateful, but this is a big thing to ask."

"No it isn't; not when it is you," Karen assured him. "I owe you more than some milk for your baby. Without you, my daughter Maxine wouldn't even be alive and I'm pretty sure my marriage would not have survived loosing her."

"I'm sorry, but I don't remember you? When was your daughter my patient?" House frowned a little.

"She wasn't exactly," Karen explained. "I was here in 2004 and you found an epidemic spreading in the maternity ward. One of the babies died, but you managed to save the rest of them, Max included. She would have been the next had you not found the virus in time – and had there not been a cure. I never did meet you then, but we were told that you were the one who realised what was wrong. This is a very small thank you for saving my child."

"I'm glad your daughter is alive, but I'm not looking for payment," House claimed somewhat uncomfortably.

"I know, but the nurse told me that your baby was born in Japan and could really use help in fighting the local germs, and I have more milk than baby-Ethan needs, so I'm happy to help." Karen reassured him.

"Thank you," House sighed. He wheeled his chair next to the bed and lifted Aiko into his arms. "This is Aiko, she got breast-milk for the first ten days of her life, but then I had to put her on formula for the trip home. She took to the bottle like a pro, so I'm not sure how she will react to going back to breast-feeding now. I hope she will be as accommodating as she has been so far with all the changes in her young life."

"Let's hope so, but if need be I can pump the milk and we will give it to her in a bottle," Karen said accepting Aiko into her arms.

"Thank you," House said again. He backed his chair a little away from the bed and stood up ready to leave. "I appreciate this."

"As I said, I'm happy to help," Karen repeated. "I'll ring the nurse once we are done."

House walked out of the room and found Cameron waiting outside. They walked a little further away from the room and then Cameron turned to confront House.

"So you are not bonding with your daughter?" Cameron mocked. "You are just being clinical and objective and possibly mildly interested in a detached sort of way. Right! You love that kid. You go out of your way to find her nourishment that will also help her immune system adapt to her new environment. You are actually nice, polite and appreciative to someone for Aiko's sake. You even accept thanks for curing a patient! As for what you did earlier – testing her reflexes? Right. You could have done that in two minutes. You didn't have to spend ten times that much on it. As for the sunflower seed oil – I'm sure it really is beneficial for her health, but it does not need to be scented oil for that. You were caring with her, you were making her feel secure and loved and you were SO bonding with her. And nothing you will say to me now, will make me change my mind about that."

"Is this one of your Freudian analysis again?" House growled. "Of course I care about what happens to Aiko; I was trusted with her well-being."

"No, you don't care just about what happens to her, you care about HER," Cameron insisted. "And one does not need to use any kind of psychology to see that. It's obvious."

"She is a baby they need attention and all that. If I have to look after her, I might as well do it properly; there's no need to make a song and dance about it." House was not happy.

"No? Not even when you go out of your way to find scented oil for her?" Cameron smiled.

"Apricot is a traditional Japanese scent," House shrugged. "It was also her mother's favourite. I'm just trying to keep her in touch with her roots. No big deal."

"Sure. Tell that to the marines," Cameron invited.

"I will," House grimaced. "Or at least one of them, come tomorrow."

"What do you mean?" Cameron asked puzzled.

"My parents arrive tomorrow," House sighed. "Mother wants to meet her granddaughter."

"I suppose that is understandable," Cameron nodded. "In fact, I'm surprised that she wasn't waiting for you at the airport when you arrived."

"She probably would have been, had she known," House agreed.

"You didn't tell her? Your mother?" Cameron was astonished.

"No." House replied curtly. "I didn't want my parents to be there when I got home. I would not have minded mother, but she never goes anywhere alone, so I decided not to tell her until yesterday. I really couldn't wait longer, though I was tempted."

"Why?"

"It's not that Mother won't be happy to have Aiko for a granddaughter," House looked morose. "It's just that I don't want to put up with my Father's questions about everything. Especially I cannot put up with his advice on what I really should have done or should do now. I'm not giving up my girl!"

"Surely he wouldn't even suggest something like that!" Cameron exclaimed.

"Yes he will," House was sure. "Right after he gives me the list of reasons why, – in his opinion – I'm an unfit Father. Mind you, on that subject he is an expert." Cameron was not quite sure she heard the last, quietly muttered sentence correctly and the look on House's face did not invite questions. Fortunately that was when they heard Karen ring for the nurse.

A little later House collected his daughter from Mrs. Hartig.

"I'll be here for two more days and I'll try and leave as much breast-milk for your daughter as I can," Karen told House.

"Thank you," House said, starting to feel almost comfortable with those two words. "If she can get breast-milk even once a day, it will help her immune system considerably."

"I'm sure I will be able to send some here even after I get home," Karen smiled. "I was told that there are other babies who would benefit from it, too, not just yours."

"Indeed," House agreed. "Many of the premature babies cannot get milk from their mothers as the pregnancy didn't progress as expected. You could help quite a few of them if you want. The nurses here will be more than happy to tell you how it can be arranged."

House sat in his chair again and having wrapped Aiko securely against himself again, he took his leave from Mrs. Hartig. Cameron walked with him back to the diagnostics where they found Foreman and Chase waiting with the test results for their patient. House had been right: it was Eastern equine encephalitis.


	5. House’s heart

_Thanks again for the reviews. I originally had a slightly different story in mind, but then the characters just decided to play their own game and I had no choice but to go with it. House will change, possibly a lot, but I will do my best to keep it credible – to change him in ways that he actually might change, given the circumstances I have created for him._

-------------------

House knocked on Cuddy's door and poked his head in. Cuddy looked up surprised since he usually just barged in without knocking.

"Are you doing anything terribly important right now?" House asked.

"Probably not in your estimation," Cuddy answered. "I have important paperwork to do, but since you usually ignore all paperwork I don't dare assume that you would consider my paperwork as important. Why?"

"Could you do your paperwork in my office?" House surprised Cuddy with his suggestion.

"I suppose. But again: why?" Cuddy was mystified.

"Aiko," House stated simply. "I have to go do my clinic hours and I'd like you to watch over her. Cameron is in there right now, but she may be called away. Chase and Foreman are not allowed to touch Aiko, at least not yet; they have already nearly given her a heart attack with their clumsiness. I would feel better if you were there, too, just in case."

"I see no reason why I couldn't do that," Cuddy agreed. "Its just paperwork so I can do it anywhere. Any instructions?"

"Cameron has them," House assured her. "Aiko has just eaten, been changed and she should sleep for couple of hours just fine. If not, you can call me from the clinic."

"I don't think we need to do that," Cuddy told him. "We are both doctors, after all."

"Ok, I'm gone then," House stated but before he managed to pull his head back to the other room Cuddy noticed something.

"Hold on House," she called. "What are you wearing?" Cuddy stood up and walked to the door. She opened it full to reveal House in a lab-coat.

"Hey, you keep on telling me that I need to wear these white coats for people to believe that I'm a doctor. You have finally convinced me." House defended himself.

"I don't think so," Cuddy mused. "I think you are wearing that coat to protect Aiko from the germs that you might carry to her in your normal clothes if you didn't protect them with that one. You are actually developing a sense of responsibility."

"Cuddy, you and Cameron ought to get into musicals," House sighed. "The way you make a song and dance about every little thing I do is getting annoying."

"Well, you just have to live with it," Cuddy grinned and gathered her papers to take them to House's office.

----------------

Cameron was sitting at House's desk sorting his mail but as soon as Cuddy arrived she moved to a chair on the other side of the desk. Cuddy set her papers on the desk and then she went to check on Aiko, who was sleeping in her crib in the nursery corner, House's iPod was sitting next to the crib and a rhythmic sound was coming from it.

"What is that sound?" Cuddy asked puzzled.

Cameron laughed a little: "House's heart. It beats just for her."

"Now there is something that you could write a song and dance about," Cuddy chuckled.

"Has House complained to you, too?" Cameron queried.

"Oh yes, he suggested that we, you and I, ought to try for a career in musicals," Cuddy told her. She leaned over the crib and stared at Aiko for a long moment. "Do you think it is true, that his heart really beats for Aiko?"

"Yes, I think it does," Cameron said coming over to Aiko as well. "It's true that this is only the first day we have seen him with her, but I think it is obvious she has wormed her way deep into his heart already. He even got her a – well, I suppose you have to call her a wet-nurse – he has one of the new mothers in the maternity ward suckle Aiko once a day."

"Is that wise?" Cuddy asked. "I mean of course breast-milk is the preferred nourishment if possible, and even just once a day is very beneficial for the baby's digestive system, but there are a number of infections that can be passed through it."

"The mother in question has just had her second baby here and we have her complete medical history, so that is covered," Cameron reassured Cuddy. "She is also doing it for free as she feels that she owes House the life of her first child who was born in 2004."

"You mean it is Mrs. Hartig?" Cuddy realised. "I was surprised that she stayed with us let alone came back to have her second child here, after the epidemic."

"We must have handled it right," Cameron speculated. "And House certainly caught it early. I don't even dare to think what would have happened had he not persisted with his theory."

"I'm still having nightmares about it," Cuddy admitted. "So something good House did once is now helping him with his daughter. Imagine that. He must feel quite confused."

"I don't know about him," Cameron shrugged. "But I certainly am. He is so different with Aiko. I have never seen him like this, not even close. He does try to pass it off as just taking care of her needs, seeing that he fulfils his obligation, but when you see him with her, you cannot miss the caring. He really loves her."

"I hope you are right, but I don't know if I can believe you," Cuddy worried.

"You will, once you see them together," Cameron smiled. "Its really beautiful, and I rather think I even envy Aiko – a little."

"I think I know what you mean," Cuddy sighed. "If Aiko can bring back the old House, the one from before the infarction, even a little, I will be forever in her debt."

"I have always wondered why you put up with House the way you do," Cameron returned to a subject she had tried to find an answer to before.

"Haven't you realised yet?" Cuddy asked. "I was the one who suggested the surgery to Stacy. I was his doctor. And I still don't know if I did the right thing."

"He would have died if you hadn't done what you did," Cameron pointed out.

"I'm fairly sure that until now that is the option he would have preferred," Cuddy admitted. "House once said that I have an overdeveloped sense of guilt. His opinion was that that is a good thing, because it makes me a good boss – I suspect that in his book that means that he can always find a way to manipulate me. But it is true that I feel guilty, mostly because I feel that had he been the doctor he would have found a different way. Well, he did in fact; I just didn't have the guts to find out if it would have worked. But if Aiko makes his life worth living again, then I did do the right thing in making sure he survived."

The women watched over Aiko a moment longer and then they returned to work – though both were also absorbing the compelling sound of House's heartbeat.

---------------

His first day at work with Aiko had been surprisingly easy. True, the gossips had got more than enough food for their mill, but all in all House rather thought he would be able to handle things for now. He was sitting on his couch, drinking coffee when the doorbell rang. He knew it was Wilson, as he had lifted the ban on visiting. He didn't bother to get up and Wilson used his key to get in, as usual.

"Where's Aiko," was Wilson's first question.

"In the bedroom," House said. "Her crib is next to my bed and the baby-monitor is on." House pointed to a receiver on the coffee table. "She will be asleep for at least an hour still."

"I still find it hard to digest that you are a father," Wilson shook his head. "I never thought to see a day like this."

"Well, some are born responsible and some have responsibilities thrust upon them," House flipped. "There is coffee in the kitchen if you want."

"Thanks," Wilson said and got himself a mug, he then settled himself next to House on the couch. "So how are you adjusting to these responsibilities thrust upon you?"

"No problem," House replied unconvincingly.

"What is bugging you about Aiko?" Wilson asked.

"Nothing," House denied. "You know they don't bug me till they get teeth." Wilson felt like saying something to that, but he also felt that House hadn't finished his pronouncement, so he kept silent. House went on: "Of course, there is no way to keep Aiko toothless, so there may be problems ahead."

"Is that what worries you?" Wilson wondered. "Do you think you will stop loving Aiko when she gets older? Or that you will not be able to provide her with all she needs?"

"I already know that I will not be able to provide her with all she needs," House pointed out. "She needs her biological parents, she needs her mother. She needs someone who isn't so screwed up that he doesn't even know if he can take care of himself let alone her, but she is stuck with me, and I'm scared witless."

"Hey, remember you are not alone in this," Wilson insisted. He found House's doubts encouraging. If House was this concerned, he had to really care about Aiko. "You have me and Lisa with you. We are all doctors and Lisa is a woman. I'm sure between the three of us we will figure things out. Besides I heard you were planning on hiring a Nanny for your kid. That is a fourth person who will help with her upbringing."

"I suppose you are right," House sighed. "It still doesn't fill me with comfort nor joy, but maybe things will work out."

"You don't sound very convinced?" Wilson stated.

"My biggest asset with solving problems is that I see only the problems, the puzzles," House explained. "I don't really see the people involved. I'm objective, detached and unemotional. That does not mean that I don't care about the wellbeing of the patient, but whatever "care" I may have does not interfere with my judgement, with my skills in solving the puzzle. I cure them because I don't care."

"You worry because you care about Aiko?" Wilson questioned.

"I had a patient today," House took a sip from his coffee. "Baby boy, six months of age, his mother brought him in because he had a sudden fever and would not stop crying. He was obviously in pain, but the mother could not locate the source."

"Ok, I hear you. What was the problem," Wilson prompted cautiously.

"The mother was one of our paediatric nurses," House revealed. "And the problem was that the boy was having his first tooth. True, six months is a little early, but not abnormally so for the first tooth, but you would still expect a paediatric nurse check everything."

"So what did you say to her?" Wilson was not sure he wanted the answer.

"I didn't really need to say anything," House told him. "As soon as I started to check the boy's mouth she figured it out for herself. She was embarrassed, though I didn't say anything, just wrote a prescription for some cream and suitable painkillers. But that is not the point here."

"Then what is?"

"She missed something so obvious though she was the boy's mother and trained in childcare," House rubbed his forehead. "I may be a doctor, but I don't work with children, especially as young as Aiko. What will I miss? What if I miss something important? My patients usually have an illness or a condition that occurs only in one in a ten thousand people or even rarer. What if I miss something simple, something common that I don't even come to think of since I usually deal with only the very rare? Where will Aiko be then?"

"She will be fine," Wilson insisted. "You are not the only one who is looking after her. I am, Lisa is, Cameron even Foreman and Chase are there. We have her covered. In PPTH, in our care she is probably in the safest care an infant can be in on this planet."

"The problem is that on this planet that ain't saying much," House sighed, though he did seem to get some comfort from Wilson's words. "You are a doctor, like me. We both know how very fragile these parasites are. There is no keeping them safe, except with incredible luck."

"Yet the species survives and most of the babies survive," Wilson pointed out. "We will be fine. Aiko will be fine. You will do everything humanly possible for her and we will help."

"Yeah, ok," House agreed. He sipped more of his coffee which by now was cold. "I need your help with something, though."

"Anything," Wilson promised.

"That is a very broad promise," House warned his friend. "I could now insist that you change Aiko's diapers every time for the next six months. In fact I think you are incredibly lucky that I have something more important in mind."

"Fine, I'm grateful. What is it?"

"I need your help to find an alternative pain relief, some physical therapy, rehab or something. Though I will still refuse to _visualise the healing_," House muttered.

"Why? You have always refused before," Wilson was surprised.

"I need to find a way to cut down on Vicodin," House ground from between his teeth. "Part of my pain is just cramping. Thus far I have just taken extra Vicodin for it, since it hasn't mattered to me for how long I live. Now I have to live at least till Aiko is eighteen. I need to find a way to reduce my Vicodin intake and finding alternative treatment for the cramps at least will help. Will you?"

"Happy to," Wilson was actually dancing a jig inside his mind, but he knew better than to show House how relieved he was to hear the word _rehab_.

"Ok, thanks," House nodded and finished his coffee.

------------------------------------------

_Because this is jus fiction, I don't really want to go into details about breast-milk and wet-nursing, especially as it is a somewhat controversial subject in some countries. In mine I don't know any cases of wet-nursing lately, but hospitals gather breast-milk into "milk-banks" that help feeding the premature babies and babies who are unable to get breast-milk from their mothers. Especially with premies breast-milk is much preferred over formula. Straight wet-nursing is also becoming fashionable again. In Hollywood it is possible to hire a wet-nurse from the same place you would hire your valet or your butler. In UK (that is not my country, BTW) it has been found that many women who have children at the same time as their friends or other family members may share the nursing especially if either one of them is having trouble breast-feeding, they just prefer not to talk about it. I'm not advocating for any choice since this, possibly more than anything, is a personal matter and personal choice. But the only thing "better" about mother's breast-milk to any other breast-milk from a healthy woman is that the milk from the biological mother contains the antibodies for the specific germs in the baby's home. As Aiko's home was Japan and she is now living in the USA, the antibodies from her mother are not sufficient, which is why House tried to find something to help her immune system. If you want more information about breast-milk or wet-nursing – google it._


	6. Meet the grandparents

_Thank you for the reviews all! I appreciate the feedback. :)_

_--------------------------_

Next day House came to work at his usual time with Aiko sound asleep against him. His team was waiting for him in the conference room as usual. Apparently they didn't have a case. House placed Aiko in her crib and walked to the other room to get his morning coffee.

"My parents arrive some time today," House threw at his team over his shoulder. "They want to meet their new granddaughter. I will also be interviewing possible Nannies with Cuddy later in the afternoon but feel free to find us a case if you can. I hate interviews so anything that will cut them short is appreciated."

"But don't you want to make sure that Aiko has the best Nanny possible?" Cameron wondered.

"You really think that Cuddy would let anyone but the most highly qualified and recommended candidates even apply for the position?" House asked her. "Testing if they really can speak Japanese won't take long and if I take a dislike to someone I can usually do that at first glance, so why waste additional time in talking to the person?"

"What if you don't take an instant dislike?" Chase asked.

"Then I test her Japanese and if she speaks it fluently she is hired," House shrugged. "Now, if you don't mind I better go and do some of my clinic hours or Cuddy may leave me alone to do the interviews."

"HER Japanese?" Foreman asked House before he could leave.

"Yes, her. I'm not having a male Nanny in my home or office, no matter how fashionable it may seem," House replied. "It's just unnatural." He gave an exaggerated shudder and left the room.

"Always so PC," Foreman huffed. "I'm surprised he isn't looking for a _Mammy_ for his kid."

"Thanks for the tip, I'll take it under consideration," House's voice floated back to the room from the corridor. Foreman rolled his eyes.

--------

Later that day House had gone to the maternity ward again to give Aiko her bath and "_dose her up on_ _breast-milk_" as he had put it. Chase and Foreman were hunting for a case for the team and Cameron was sorting House's correspondence. There was a knock on the door and looking up Cameron saw that the grandparents had arrived. She stood up and came forward to greet them.

"Hi, pleased to meet you again," she said shaking their hands in welcome. "Your son should be back soon. We didn't expect you to get here so early."

"My wife was ready to leave two minutes after Greg called us with the news," John House revealed. "We took the first flight we could get."

"You have no idea how long I have waited for a grandchild," Blythe House smiled at Cameron. "I had quite given up hope by now, but apparently you should never do that! I just had to get here as soon as possible."

"I can understand that," Cameron agreed. "And you will not be disappointed. Aiko is a beautiful child."

"Is he going to keep that name?" John asked. "It's not very American."

"It's her name," Cameron replied feeling a little puzzled. "I don't think Dr. House has even considered changing it. It was the name her mother chose for her."

"Come now, John," Blythe said in a gentle voice. "Greg has every right to name his daughter whatever he wants. You certainly didn't appreciate suggestions from our families when it came to naming Greg."

"That was different," John told her. "We knew what we were doing."

"Did you now?" House's voice came from the doorway. "Didn't look like it to me, but then I was just on the receiving end of it all, so what do I know." He wheeled himself in.

"Greg?" Blythe stared at the wheelchair. "Is ..."

"Don't worry, Mother," House said reassuringly. "I'm fine. I just don't want to risk falling with the baby. My leg is fine, just a little unsteady as usual."

"That's a relief," Blythe sighed happily. "So this is Aiko?" She then said trying to get a look at the baby wrapped to House's chest again.

"Yes, this is your granddaughter," House smiled and dug Aiko out of her nest. "Want to hold her?" At Blythe's nod he handed the baby carefully to his mother. "Got her?"

"Yes, I got her," Blythe assured him folding the baby securely in her arms. "Oh, but you are beautiful," she cooed to her. "Such a pretty, precious little girl you are." Aiko stared at her gravely, blinking her dark eyes. "Such a solemn face," Blythe laughed gently.

"If you want to see her smile, you have to wait another couple of weeks or so," House told her standing up from the chair. "She is only sixteen days old."

"So what are your plans for her?" John House asked his son.

"Plans?" House lifted his eyebrow at his father. "I just said that she is sixteen days old. It's a bit early days to have _plans_ for her."

"I meant how you mean to arrange for her care," John clarified. "Surely you are not even thinking of raising her yourself?"

"She is my daughter," House ground from between his teeth. "Who else would raise her?"

"A child needs someone responsible to be in charge!" John huffed. "Look, - there are places where she will be taken care of, even if you don't want to give her up for actual adoption."

House came to stand right in front of his father. His face was tight and his eyes were practically shooting blue flames. Cameron was afraid they would come to blows. However, House seemed to control himself, even if with difficulty. He stared at his father and said clearly: "Stay out of my daughter's life."

John House backed up a little, but he was not about to drop the subject as yet: "You are barely fit to take care of yourself, what makes you think you are fit to be a father to a little girl?"

"Possibly the same thing that made you think you were fit to be a father," House mocked. "Of course, you were wrong, so it is quite possible that I'm wrong, too, but since being wrong didn't stop you, why should it stop me?"

"Dr. House," Cameron felt she needed to interrupt the conversation somehow before it got worse. There obviously were some big issues left unresolved between House and his father. "There is an urgent request for a consultation in your email."

"Hmh," House sounded annoyed, but he also came to his senses and decided to have it out with his father at some other time and in a less public place. He turned to his mother who was looking back and forth between her son and her husband with a worried look on her face. "Aiko seems to trust you Mother," House noted. "She has fallen asleep in your arms. Why don't you put her in her crib and we can go to the other room where you can grill me for all the details." He then turned to Cameron with a mocking look in his eyes: "That is once I have dealt with this terribly urgent consultation Cameron has brought to my attention." Blythe smiled in relief and did as suggested. She then took her husband to the next room where she then tried to smooth his mood.

"So, what is this urgent problem then?" House asked once his parents were out of the room.

"Burn victim. A fire-fighter who has extensive third degree burns all over his torso. The burns are showing signs of infection, but his allergies won't permit normal drugs." Cameron explained briefly.

"You don't need me to tell you the answer to that one," House told her. When Cameron remained silent he went on. "Maggots! We've done it before."

Cameron made a disgusted face: "I was hoping you could think of something else."

"Why?" House asked. "Maggots work, they are fast, efficient and safe. Sure they are old fashioned, but what does that matter if they save the patient?"

"Right," Cameron sighed in defeat. "I'll email them your recommendation."

"Do that," House prompted her. He then turned to join his parents, but hesitated for a moment. "Cameron, do me a favour and call Wilson and Cuddy and tell them my parents have arrived to see Aiko. I may need some back-up here."

"Yeah, I'll call the cavalry," Cameron nodded.

-------------------------------

House managed to stay civil until _the cavalry _arrived by basically ignoring his father and concentrating on his mother's questions. Blythe assisted him with his endeavour by asking for every little detail she could think of. It wasn't all done because she wanted to create a buffer between the two men in her life, she was genuinely delighted with Aiko and truly wanted to know everything about her. She had barely scratched the surface of it all before Cuddy arrived to give House moral support. Cuddy took one look at the situation and took charge of John House who was basically glowering at his son from across the room.

"I see Aiko has totally charmed your wife," Cuddy noted. "I'm not surprised, she is adorable."

"I suppose," John muttered. "I have never been that comfortable with babies. They are too small, you know. I get along better with them when they are older, more able to understand what you are telling them."

Cuddy raised an eyebrow on that pronouncement. House had once told her, that he found kids interesting when they had opinions of their own, when they had a fresh look at something adults no longer questioned. It seemed that House senior was more interested in instilling his opinions on the kid than finding out what opinions the kid might have. That could explain some of the hostility House had confessed to feeling towards his father. "I understand many men feel that infants are more the mother's territory," Cuddy said neutrally. "It's fortunate Greg isn't of that opinion. He has taken to _mothering_ Aiko like he had done it half his life. If I didn't know better I would say his specialty was paediatrics."

John House didn't seem to be really paying attention to Cuddy's words. "Blythe took care of Greg until he was older, but who will look after this kid? She needs someone responsible around, someone who can decide what is best for her. We live too far away to do that."

"John," Cuddy called his name with emphasis (since he had told her to call him _John_ then she surely would!). "Aiko does not need anyone else to decide what is in her best interest. She has Greg."

"Greg," John huffed. "Greg has never listened to advice; he will always do what he wants. He is not responsible enough to look after a baby. Why can't anyone see how impossible this situation is?"

"Obviously the rest of us know your son a lot better than you do," Cuddy's voice was frosty. "Greg is a wonderful doctor and in these two days he has been back here he has already shown that he will also be a wonderful father, though where he has learned his fathering skills I cannot imagine." Huffily Cuddy turned his back to John House and joined Blythe and House to talk about Aiko.

Wilson had just arrived in time to hear the end of Cuddy's conversation with John. He wasn't sure if he should join the group at the table or go to John and keep him away from the others. He chose to do the latter, though he also decided to try and introduce a more neutral topic than House and his daughter. Weather was always a good topic.

House watched from the corner of his eye how Wilson went to John House and engaged him in a harmless conversation about weather and global warming. Trust Wilson, he was always the peacemaker. Of course he had assumed Cuddy would be able to keep John occupied and happy, but something had screwed that plan as Lisa had decided to join him and Blythe at the table. She had also practically had steam coming out of her ears when she left John. At House's questioning eyebrow she had just shaken her head and joined the conversation about Aiko.

Just then Cameron came from his office carrying Aiko in her arms.

"She is getting fussy," she said handing the girl to House. "I did turn your iPod on, but she obviously wants the real thing."

"Fine, hand her over," House smiled and took the infant in his arms. Aiko settled down immediately. Cameron went over to join Wilson and John. She thought Wilson might need help there.

"You two look perfect together," Blythe smiled at her son and granddaughter. "I'm so glad you have not inherited your father's fear of babies!"

"He is afraid of babies?" House questioned.

"Well, maybe not afraid," Blythe explained. "It's more that he is apprehensive. He thinks babies are too fragile to be handled by men. He is really not comfortable with children until they are at least toddlers. I'm really glad that you are different."

"Me, too," House replied neutrally, though Cuddy thought she heard something deeper in his tone, something that went a little further than the actual topic under discussion.

"So where are you staying and for how long?" Cuddy decided to ask Blythe.

"We were planning to stay a week," Blythe answered. "I would like to stay longer, but ..." she shrugged nodding towards her husband somehow managing to indicate that she didn't think exposing father and son for too long to each other was necessarily a good idea. "We are booked in a hotel near here, since Greg's apartment is too small for us to stay there, especially now that he has a child, too."

"Yes, that is one thing I need to think about," Greg sighed.

"What?" Cuddy asked.

"My apartment," Greg clarified. "It's ok for now, but once Aiko gets older she will need a room for herself, she may eventually want a pet, too, and even without a pet she needs a safe place to play in, so I probably need to get a house with a fenced yard."

Blythe leaned over to her son and kissed him on the cheek. House looked up with a puzzled face. "What was that for?"

"Nothing," Blythe smiled. "I just think that Aiko may be the luckiest girl alive." Blythe sighed. She looked at her son a little apprehensively, but decided to speak anyway: "I'm sure you have thought about this, but just in case – what will happen to Aiko if you are unable to care for her for some reason? Not that I think anything will happen to you, but I'm sure her parents didn't think anything would happen to them, either."

"I have thought about it," House reassured her mother. "It's under control."

"Greg has asked me to be Aiko's guardian if need be," Cuddy told Blythe. "He has also asked me to be around even if there is no real need, just in case he needs advice on _girly_ things when the time comes."

"I'm glad," Blythe touched Cuddy's hand. "You will be a wonderful role model for her."

"That is what I said, too," House agreed.

"Thank you," Cuddy nearly blushed. "But speaking of help, we need to get to my office; the first nanny-candidate ought to be there soon."

"Ok. Mom, would you take care of Aiko for now? Cameron has all the instructions if we are not back before she wakes up and wants her next bottle," House handed the baby to his mother and got ready to follow Cuddy.

"I'm more than happy to have time to get acquainted with my granddaughter, so take all the time you need," Blythe assured her son cuddling her granddaughter securely in her arms. "And don't worry, I will not let your father put her up for adoption or do anything else as ridiculous while you are away."

"Thanks Mom," House gave her a kiss – and then he bent down and kissed Aiko, too, before he left the room.


	7. Finding the Nanny

_Thank you for your reviews though it turns out I have a bit of a problem because of them: I can barely find a hat big enough to come down to cover my ears – and it's darn cold here right now :)._

_As for the adoption of Aiko happening with speed, yes it did a bit. I plan to explain a few things more about it at a later date, but basically I just assumed that two brilliant doctors from two continents would indeed have treated enough important patients to get the help they needed to speed things up. And though both of these doctors are unsocial and reluctant to ask for help, for Aiko, they were ready to do anything – including calling in all favours they could._

_--------------------------------------------_

"This is your fault," House accused Cuddy.

"My fault?" Cuddy gasped in indignation. "I called the most prestigious agency in town – and I checked their reputation and credentials before I did. They sent three candidates with excellent references. It is not my fault that you didn't like any of them."

"You know that I want a Nanny who can speak Japanese to Aiko!" House insisted. "Not one of those disasters that walked through your door had even a nodding acquaintance with the language."

"The last one had," Cuddy reminded him.

"She said _thank you_," House sneered. "Would you have said _thank you_ had I told **you** that you look like you suck lemons for breakfast, like your fun-bags haven't seen any _fun_ in twenty years and your general appearance reminds me of a dried up prune?"

"You didn't..." Cuddy was appalled. "You did. And I thought you were complementing her references! Which apparently is what she thought, too, and you did it on purpose, didn't you? Have you no shame?"

"No," House stated. "Besides would it have mattered if she had understood me? I mean would you really have let her anywhere near Aiko?"

"Not in this lifetime," Cuddy had to concede. "I don't understand it. I gave them clear instructions of what we want! Why are they sending us these ... disasters?"

"Because of you," House repeated. "As I said this is your fault entirely."

"Fine, would you mind explaining to me how?" Cuddy demanded.

"They are not sending Nannies for Aiko," House obliged. "They are sending Nannies to Dr. Lisa Cuddy, the Dean of Medicine and the Head of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, a woman who has a reputation for running an extremely tight ship, who does not suffer fools in her staff, who has a reputation for eating cripples for breakfast and who is the only human being on this earth who can control one Dr. Greg House."

"Control you? I wish!" Cuddy sighed.

"You do control me," House muttered. "After a point, that is."

"**Up** to a point, you mean?" Cuddy corrected him.

"No, after," House disagreed. "You let me do my thing in peace most of the time, it's just when I go too far that you slap me back in line. Well, sometimes you use a whip and a chair, but still, the point is that you can control me when you really want."

"If I really could control you when I want you would do a heck of a lot more clinic hours than you do," Cuddy groused.

"You don't really want me to do more clinic hours," House smiled. "You just generally think it would be a good thing. Anyway, that is beside the point right now. We need to get a Nanny for Aiko. I'll go and check on her and meanwhile you will call that agency and tell them – in your best _I'm the head of this hospital don't mess with me_ manner that if the next three candidates cannot speak Japanese they may as well stay home."

"Fine, I'll do that – and I will also remind them of the original specifications I gave them," Cuddy reached for the phone. "See you in an hour."

--------------

About three quarters of an hour later House was sitting in his wheelchair by the water-feature in the lobby. He had Aiko with him. His parents had gone to have lunch, Cameron had clinic duty and he wasn't leaving his girl alone with the two remaining stooges, so he decided that Aiko too, could have a say on the Nanny she was going to get. He was holding Aiko in his arms, close to his face so she could focus on him and he was singing to her softly: "_Ooki na kuri no ki no shita de / anata to watashi / naka yoku asobimashou / ooki na kuri no ki no shita de."_

"_My grandmother used to sing that song to me when I was little_," House heard a soft voice tell him in Japanese. He looked up and saw a pretty, young, Japanese girl – well a woman, he supposed, - standing next to him. She was wearing a light brown coat, dark brown hat and white gloves. She looked a little like an earnest schoolgirl.

"_When you were little_," House smiled mischievously. "_Like yesterday, you mean?"_

She looked at House earnestly and replied: "_I **am** twenty-one_."

"_My apologies, I did not realise you had reached such a venerable age,"_ House mocked her very gently. "_You wear it so well."_

"_Are you making fun of me, oto-san?"_ the girl asked him.

"_Only very little,"_ House admitted. "_Are you here for the interview with_ Dr. Cuddy?"

"_Hai,"_ she nodded.

"_Despite your great age, you don't look like you could have a lot of experience yet,"_ House mused.

"_I have only just received my badge,"_ she admitted. "_But I am fully qualified and with excellent marks. Though the agency had not originally planned on sending me, because they thought I was too young to please Dr. Cuddy, but suddenly they changed their minds."_

"_They must have had a reason_," House prevaricated. "_But why are you applying for this job? I have understood that there is a great demand of Norland Nannies in Japan? Are you just looking for international experience first or are you thinking of staying here?"_

"_My mother married an American diplomat when I was little, I am a citizen,"_ she told him. "_Though I have lived most of my life in Japan, with my grandparents. Mother did not think moving from place to place was the right kind of life for a child. I did live with my mother and her husband from the age of fifteen till I was eighteen; at that age I entered the Norland College in England. I am staying with my mother and her husband now, too, until I can find a permanent position."_

"_You sound like you couldn't wait to start work?"_ House observed.

"_I can't. I want to move into a place of my own, and I have always loved children. I just hope Dr. Cuddy will hire me,"_ she said a little anxiously.

"_I'm sure you have nothing to worry about_," House reassured her. "_Even if you are only just starting out, you did graduate from Norland and you cannot get a more prestigious background as a Nanny than that._"

"_Thank you, oto-san,"_ she bowed formally. "_I think I better go and get ready for my interview, it's almost time for it. It was a pleasure talking with you._"

"_Indeed_," House nodded to her. Once she had turned and gone to speak to the nurse at the desk, he said softly: "Indeed a pleasure; you have no idea." He then took his phone from his pocket and called Cuddy: "Look, I'm running a little late why don't you start on the next one on your own and I'll join you in a minute ... Thanks." He then wheeled his chair a little out of sight and whispered to Aiko: "You know, Little Love, I think we found you a Nanny. I knew it was a good idea to bring you along."

-------------------------

The interview had been going on for about ten minutes when the door opened and House wheeled himself in. The girl sitting in the chair in front of Cuddy turned to look and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Dr. House," Cuddy greeted him more formally than normally. "This is Kasumii Tanaka. She has graduated from the ..."

"Norland College in England and has lived most of her life in Japan," House interrupted her. He wheeled his chair next to Cuddy and handed Aiko to her. "I know; I met her outside. The only slight problem I may have with her is her too trusting nature." He turned his head to look at Kasumii. "It really is not wise to talk to strange men, even in a public place."

"Well, I figured I could outrun you, sir," Kasumii defended herself, though not very vigorously.

"Did you now?" House asked. He then stood up and walked past Cuddy to the other end of the desk. He managed to hide his limp by using Cuddy's chair as support. Kasumii stared at him in shock. "A wheelchair does not a cripple make," House pointed out to her. Then he retrieved his cane that was resting against the other chair behind the desk – he had dropped it off there earlier before he took Aiko to the waterfall. "However, an infarction in the leg does."

"Oh," was all that Kasumii was able to say.

"Oh indeed. Now let that be a lesson: everybody lies! Even if you were right in that you can indeed outrun me," House conceded. "My leg is unsteady and I use the chair when I'm with Aiko, but I can walk. Though I imagine you don't believe you could have been in trouble even if I had been able to catch you? Not with your skills in aikido."

"How...?" Kasumii was speechless.

"An educated guess," House admitted. "I know aikido is the preferred form of self-defence training for girls in Japan and you have an air of control about your movements that suggest that you have had training in some martial art. You still ought to be more careful around strangers, but I am glad that you would be able to defend yourself and your charge."

"Thank you, oto-san," Kasumii gave him a small, formal bow.

"Now, did Dr. Cuddy explain to you that I'm the one looking for a Nanny for my daughter?"

"Yes, sir," Kasumii nodded, not quite sure what was going on.

"Aiko is Japanese and once she is old enough, I want her to be able to decide for herself where she wants to live," House explained. "That means that someone has to teach her to speak the language and also teach her the customs and traditions of her parents."

"Parents, sir?" Kasumii questioned. "I understood you were her father."

"I am in the process of adopting her," House explained. "Her parents died in a car accident and I was named her legal guardian by her grandfather. But make no mistake she is my daughter no matter what the papers currently say."

"I understand," Kasumii nodded.

"Good," House looked over his shoulder at Aiko but she was happily occupied with Cuddy who was cooing to her in a soft voice. "There is one more thing I need to know: how do you feel about the buraku?"

"Buraku?" Kasumii repeated.

"Yes, buraku," House told her. "Aiko is a buraku by her lineage."

"Oh," Kasumii was at a loss for words again. She thought for a moment: "I don't have a problem with that. I know I'm supposed to find it disturbing, but I have never quite understood the point in the shunning. They are the same as everybody else."

"Good; though I do want Aiko to be warned of the possible reactions she may face in Japan, especially when she visits her grandfather, I will not have her face any of that at home," House declared. "One more thing I want to know: why are you so anxious to leave home as soon as possible?"

"Sir?" Kasumii was astounded.

"I think my question was fairly clear," House mused.

"I still don't know what you mean," Kasumii told him lowering her gaze to the floor. No sooner had she done that than she felt the handle of his cane under her chin. House used the cane to bring her head up and make her to look into his eyes. After a long searching gaze he let her go.

"Ok," House nodded. "You don't want to talk about it. I can respect that – for now." He let go of her chin. "Why don't you step outside for a moment so that I can have a word with Dr. Cuddy. We will call you back in a moment."

"Very well, sir," Kasumii agreed and did as asked.

"She is the one," House told Cuddy.

"Are you sure," Cuddy questioned. "She is so young."

"She has graduated from the most prestigious Nanny College on this planet!" House pointed out.

"How do you know that?" Cuddy asked. "I never would have thought you were an expert on Nannies."

"I did some research," House shrugged. "I wanted to know what to look for and I wanted to know the best schools."

"Apparently your curiosity does have its uses. At least sometimes," Cuddy had to concede. "I did like her, but I have some reservations about her age. Not so that I think she cannot take care of Aiko, but I'm not sure she can handle **you**."

"Hey I'm gentle as a lamb," House insisted. Cuddy rolled her eyes. "Ok, I can be difficult. But she is safe from me as long as she is essential for Aiko's happiness."

"Ok, I'll call her back in and tell her that she is hired," Cuddy sighed.

"No, there is something else we need to talk about first," House stopped her.

"What? She has the qualifications you want and if you will behave yourself even I have no reservations," Cuddy told him.

"I know, but she needs a place to live in for now," House explained. "Ideally for Aiko she would need to live with me, but until I get a house it is not possible."

"Live with you!" Cuddy had to digest that for a moment. "Well I suppose you are right. You do work all through the night sometimes when you have a particularly difficult case. But there really is no room in your current home for that. So what was your idea?"

"Could she live with you?" House asked. "It would make it easier for Aiko to stay with you every once in a while. Aiko does need to stay with you, too, so that if anything happens to me, she is familiar with you and your home."

"I suppose it could work," Cuddy mused. "As a temporary solution. If it doesn't work, she can find a flat for herself somewhere near you. Fine, we can try it that way."

"Thank you," House said. "We can work out the details with her as we go."

"Ok," Cuddy nodded. "I'll call her in and tell her that she has a job and a home starting ... when?"

"Monday? She could move during the week-end and I think with my mother here, we have Aiko covered till then." House decided.

"Good. Monday it is." Cuddy affirmed.

----------------------------

_Translation of the song (from Mama Lisa's world -website): Under the big chestnut tree / you and me / are playing happily / under the big chestnut tree._


	8. Hands off the hired help!

_Thank you for the reviews again, and yes, the "italics" conversation between Kasumii and House was in Japanese._

_If you want to know more abut Kasumii's training you can go to the Norland College web-site._

--------------------------------------

Once they had agreed on the details of Kasumii's employment and move to Cuddy's, House took her to the diagnostics department – as she would spend quite a lot of time there at least until House was ready to let Aiko out of his sight for any length of time. Everybody was present when they arrived, only Wilson was missing.

"Oh goody," House smiled sweeping the room with his glance. "Everybody is accounted for, so this won't take long. This is Ms. Tanaka and she is Aiko's new Nanny. Be nice to her!" He then turned to give Aiko to Kasumii and got up from his chair. "And this roomful of people are: Dr. Chase, - better known as the Wombat as he hails form Australia, Dr. Foreman – the homey, and Dr. Cameron, the girl. Also present are my parents Blythe and John House. He's an ex-marine, so don't mind his manners." This last statement earned House a glower from his father. "Right, now that everybody knows everybody, why don't you take Aiko to her crib. Dr. Cameron will show you where everything is."

"Don't mind House," Cameron came forward giving Kasumii a friendly smile. "He is a bit gruff, but you'll get used to it. This way." She took Aiko and her new Nanny into House's office.

"Where on earth did you find a Norland Nanny?" Blythe wondered.

"So you, too recognised the uniform," House noted.

"Of course," Blythe said. "But you didn't answer my question."

"Just got lucky," House shrugged. "The agency Cuddy contacted had her in their books and since I had requested a Nanny who can speak Japanese, they sent her over."

"Why would you want someone who speaks Japanese?" John House questioned. "You brought the child here, so bring her up like a proper American."

"Aiko will have dual citizenship," House replied tightly. "I will not force any decision on her that she will end up regretting. Once she is old enough she can choose for herself how _proper_ she wants to be."

"I think that is a wise decision," Blythe agreed with her son. "It is good to know your own roots; it grounds you and gives you a much better basis for understanding yourself and making decisions about your life and future. Besides, Aiko deserves to know her family's heritage, too, even if you are the one who is raising her."

"Especially since I have not cut her grandfather out of her life," House pointed out. "Dr. Higa will be part of Aiko's life even if visits will be infrequent."

"So for a few cursory visits you will cram this girl's head full of all sorts of unnecessary things! How much do you think a child can learn?" John huffed. "You will just confuse the poor kid with all this _multi-culturality._ When you were little we made sure you had a proper American upbringing without any of these strange influences. At least not until you was old enough to deal with them."

House exchanged a cryptic glance with his mother – it was possible that John House did not know everything about his son's upbringing. "Since we travelled all over the world due to your work, making sure I had an American education was just sensible," House remarked mildly. "But as Aiko lives here, will go to school here and in general be surrounded by an all-American culture, it makes sense to ensure that she is introduced to her other heritage as well. And children can learn a lot. They are like sponges; they need to be considering all the things they need to master in only a few years. She will be fine."

"How would you know? You have no experience in raising children; you're not even a paediatrician. And Aiko is a girl. What do you know about girls?" John was shaking his head in exasperation.

"Too much," Blythe sighed to that. "And way too early, too, if you ask me."

"Mother?" House asked with surprise and with some apprehension, too.

"Military bases aren't that big, you know," Blythe pointed out. "And mothers do speak with each other."

"Oops," House made a face. "But surely the crimes are old by now?"

"Yes, indeed," Blythe had to smile. "If I didn't do anything about them then, I can hardly do anything about them now. The good thing about them is, though, that you know exactly what to protect Aiko from!"

John was obviously on the verge of saying something that House probably would not have appreciated, but Chase and Foreman, who had been watching the conversation from the sidelines with great interest, decided to run some interference.

"I wish we had some popcorn," Chase stage-whispered to Foreman.

"Me, too," Foreman agreed, equally loudly. "This is better than movies."

Hearing their voices John suddenly became aware of the audience they had and Blythe took the opportunity to step in: "John, why don't you go back to the hotel and maybe get in touch with some of your military buddies. I'm sure there are some of them around here, too. I want to visit with my granddaughter and you just never feel comfortable around babies. There really is no need for you to be here with me. I can't enjoy myself when you are glowering in the corner."

"I can't just leave you here," John stated.

"Why not?" Blythe asked. "You have left me in much worse places. Just because you are retired and no longer have to leave me does not mean we are joined at the hip and can't separate even for a day."

"But how will you get back to the hotel?" John worried.

"John! I'm a grown woman," Blythe sighed. "If I cannot get a lift from someone I can call a taxi. Or possibly even call you; that **is** why they invented the mobile phones."

"Well, if you are sure..." John started to relent.

"I'm quite sure," Blythe insisted. "I'm fine. I have been alone before and survived. And if you do get in touch with some of your buddies, you might want to arrange something for tomorrow as well. I want to go shopping for things for my granddaughter."

"Fine," John sighed. "I'll return to the hotel and try to arrange something for myself to do. Call me if you need anything." He kissed his wife on the cheek and left.

"Thank you, Mother," House said.

"My pleasure," Blythe smiled. "He was getting a little on my nerves, too. Don't worry; he'll come around once Aiko is a little older. It's just that he hates feeling uncomfortable so he thinks he needs to cover it up by having an opinion on everything."

"Yes, I have noticed that about him," House agreed with some irony.

"Now, I think I want to go and have a word with Ms. Tanaka," Blythe said. "I want to know who is looking after my little girl." She joined Kasumii and Cameron in House's office.

Once Blythe had exited the room House turned to his remaining two fellows. He glared at them for a moment, just long enough for them to start feeling a little apprehensive, and then he said: "It seems that I have managed to teach you at least a few things. Your interference was timely, for once."

That left Foreman and Chase speechless, but fortunately before they needed to react, Wilson walked in. He was about to say something to House when he saw Kasumii through the glass walls of House's office. Though the Nanny uniform was by no means alluring, or anything other than practical and neat, there was no hiding her beauty. Her long, coal-black hair was gathered into a bun at the nape of her neck, her dark eyes were gazing softly at Aiko, who was resting in her arms, and her beautiful smile was lighting her face as she talked with Cameron and Blythe. Wilson was stunned. He was also drawn towards her until he had a rude awakening in the form of House's cane which jabbed him on his solar plexus bringing him back to reality.

"Hold it Wilson," House ordered him. "Hands off the hired help! Ms. Tanaka is here for Aiko, not you."

"House," Wilson groaned. "Just because I was momentarily distracted by her beauty, does not mean I'm about to jump her or anything."

"Don't try that with me," House shook his head at his friend. "I have seen that look before. You are within minutes of wanting to hold hands with her and go all _Misty_ on her. She is not here to become the fourth Mrs. Wilson. And she certainly will not be anything else to you either. Stay away!"

"House, really!" Wilson knew he was on thin ice here, since he had felt before this same jolt the sight of Kasumii had given him now, but he was not going to admit to anything. He was a grown man, for crying out loud; surely he didn't have to go after every woman who made his heart miss a beat with her beauty. Even if he had done just that every time so far. "I am capable of self-control, you know."

"No, actually, I don't know," House denied. "Just remember this: she is here to be Aiko's Nanny; in that capacity she is part of my family, sort of like an extension of Aiko. So you messing with her is like messing with Aiko, and anyone who messes with Aiko is a dead man – and I am not speaking metaphorically. This, by the way, is something you two should remember as well!" House threw the last sentence at Foreman and Chase. "Now, if that is clear Jimmy, I will introduce you to Ms. Tanaka."

"There was really no need to resort to threats," Wilson crumbled. "I'm not a callow youth."

"Yeah, yeah," House threw at him as he entered his office. "Kasumii, meet my friend Dr. Wilson, he will be playing the part of Aiko's Uncle Jimmy. He is an oncologist and an excellent doctor, a good friend and a constant lover. Unfortunately the object of his constant love changes with the wind, but fortunately, by now, every woman in this hospital knows that. – And Jimmy, this is Ms. Tanaka, Aiko's Nanny and thus the latest addition to my distinctly odd family."

"House, could you just once, just to surprise me you know, not embarrass me when you introduce me to someone?" Wilson complained.

"Hmm, sorry, no," House replied.

"Sorry about my friend," Wilson turned to Kasumii. "You will get used to him, but it may take some time. He is fairly impossible. Pleased to meet you Kasumii."

"Ms. Tanaka to you, Jimmy," House inserted.

"You called her Kasumii," Wilson stated in surprise.

"Yes, I did, but I'm her boss and she is an infant," House explained causing Kasumii to give him an indignant look the second time that day. House held her gaze, raised an eyebrow and asked: "Right, Kasumii?"

After a moment's hesitation Kasumii gave him a small bow – just from the neck, eyes down – and replied: _"Hai, Ojii-san"_

House started to smile: "Now that is more like it! A respectful and thoroughly proper answer. I knew we would deal well together."

Kasumii lifted her gaze back to House a little warily, but seeing the mischief in his eyes she smiled back. She then turned to place Aiko into her crib once again.

"So you get to call her by her first name, but the rest of us will have to call her Ms. Tanaka?" Wilson asked just to be sure.

"Yes," House nodded. "Except for Mom, she can call her Kasumii, too."

"Well, thank you for that, Greg," Blythe said with some exaggerated gratitude.

"What about me?" Cameron asked curiously.

"Well, I suppose you could call her by her first name, too, in time," House pouted. "Once she knows you a little better. But you have to ask her. The guys, however, will have to stick to the formal address."

"Blythe, please," Wilson turned to House's mother. "Talk to him!"

"I'm sorry James," Blythe shrugged. "Greg is right; he is Kasumii's boss, he gets to make these decisions. And though I certainly deplore the manner in which he chose to introduce you, I will not tell him how to manage his household."

"Fine," Wilson sighed. "I'll just have to change his mind myself. Anyway, it was nice meeting you Ms. Tanaka and I hope you will like your work. If Greg gets too impossible, feel free to ask for help either from me or from Dr. Cuddy."

"Thank you, Dr. Wilson. I will remember that, but I think I will be fine," Kasumii answered.

"I have to go now, I only dropped by to ask if I can borrow Dr. Cameron," Wilson said to House. "I need an immunologist."

"Ok, by me," House agreed. "Cameron?"

"I heard," Cameron said. "I'm happy to help."

Soon after Cameron and Wilson had left, Kasumii, too, gathered her things and went home to start on her move. House and Blythe were alone in House's office with the sleeping baby.

"What was that exchange between you and Kasumii?" Blythe asked her son.

"What do you mean?" House countered.

"The respectful thing," Blythe clarified. "What did she call you? _Ojii-san_?"

"Oh, that," House laughed. "She was mocking me back."

"In what way?" Blythe wondered.

"Well, in itself _ojii-san_ is perfectly proper and polite way to address a man older than you," House explained. "But given the situation, the slight inflection she gave to it and the fact that I had just called her an infant, she was basically calling me Sir Grandfather."

"I see," Blythe laughed with her son. "I think you were right. You two will deal well together."

"I think so," House nodded. "Now if only I manage to keep Wilson away from her, I will have no worries at all."


	9. Physical therapy

_Thank you for the reviews again. And if you can use any information you gain from my scribbles in your own stories (or even somewhere else), feel free. Just remember, that though I do try to research things, I may get them wrong so check for yourselves, as well. Names, of course are anybody's to use as I haven't invented any just found them from different sites on the net._

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Later that afternoon House left Aiko in the care of his mother (with the three ducklings in the conference room) and went on an errand of his own. He didn't tell anyone what he was going to do, but Wilson, of course, knew as he had set it up. House felt a bit sheepish about the secrecy, as there really was no way of keeping his visit to the physio a secret. But he still wanted to keep it as quiet as possible for as long as possible. Especially as he was not even sure he would be able to go on with the physical therapy. The last time the therapist had pissed him off, and chances were that that would happen again – or then he would piss off the therapist. Either way the sessions could have an abrupt end.

House stood outside the physio door debating if he really wanted to go inside. Out of habit his hand reached for his Vicodin. He didn't open the bottle just shook it rattling the pills. He wanted to take one, but didn't know if it was a good idea. True, it was more than likely that whatever the physiotherapist would do, or make him do, would increase the pain, but taking Vicodin in anticipation of that pain might interfere with the treatment. House put the bottle back into his pocket. He could get it if he needed it. Now he just had to walk through that door. Not an easy task, but he was sure he would need to do harder things in the future if he wanted to be a good Father to Aiko. And he did. So he squared his shoulders and walked in.

The head of the department, Dr. Layton, was waiting for him. House also saw into a therapy room a little further away where a physiotherapist, a woman in her thirties, was getting ready for the next patient. House rather hoped it was not going to be him. House nodded his greeting to Dr. Layton.

"Dr. House," Layton nodded back. "I have viewed your file and planned a course of therapy for you. I have assigned Helen to your case. She is one of our best." Layton nodded towards the woman in the therapy room. House eyed her with suspicion.

"She looks perky," House said in a voice that someone else would have used to announce an epidemic of the Black Death.

"She is much in demand," Layton frowned slightly puzzled. "The patients just love her."

"Because she is perky," House concluded gloomily.

"Well, she is cheerful and optimistic, I suppose you could say perky," Layton was still in the dark.

"Is it possible that somehow my reputation has not reached this corner of this hospital?" House wondered.

"I think there is no chance that your reputation has not reached every corned of this hospital," Layton revealed dryly, though he couldn't quite connect that question with the subject under discussion, which was supposed to be House's physical therapy.

"So what, in the name of all that is holy, made you think that _perky_ would go down well with me?" House finally asked him straight.

"I was looking for other qualifications," Dr. Layton said. "Like who is the best therapist I have."

"I know you want to give the best care," House's voice did not sound quite convincing on that point, but close enough. "But I would have thought you would also have some consideration for your therapists. I eat perky for breakfast. Just ask Dr. Cameron." A fleeting expression on Dr. Layton's face caught House's attention. "Or is that it? You thought of Dr. Cameron and decided on someone like her? I wonder why..." House mused. "Could it be that you remembered that I took her on a date once? Didn't the fact that it was just once tell you anything?"

"Fine, I admit that I thought someone with similar qualities as Dr. Cameron might get along with you better," Dr. Layton turned to beckon Helen to them. "Don't you think you should at least meet her before you decide against her?"

"Not really," House growled. "But it seems unavoidable."

"Helen, this is Dr. House," Layton introduced them. "House – Helen, your therapist."

"Possibly," House cautioned. "So patients like you, I hear."

"Well, I like them, and usually when you like someone they cannot help but like you back," Helen replied. House got an expression on his face like he had bit into something particularly sour.

"Really?" House wondered. "Can't say that has ever happened to me. Usually I merely find them annoying."

"Find who annoying?" Helen lost the thread of the conversation.

"People who like me," House replied. "So are you one of these incurable optimists who believe in positive thought and visualising the healing?"

"There is nothing wrong with positive thinking," Helen defended herself. "And I have found that patients usually respond better to the therapy when they form an image of the process in their minds."

"So if I concentrate hard enough, visualise it in my mind, I will eventually grow back the muscle they cut out?" House sneered.

"No, of course not," Helen tried to explain but found she didn't quite know how to respond to this strange man. She knew House's reputation, there really was no way to work in PPTH and not know it, but she has optimistically chosen to take it with a grain of salt: nobody could really be what House's reputation made him out to be. Apparently she had been wrong. "But if we determine what we want the results of the therapy to be, then visualising helps on the way."

"Nope, Layton," House turned away from Helen quite rudely. "Find someone else. She won't last two minutes with me."

"I don't have anyone else free right now," Layton started, but was interrupted by a commotion in one of the therapy rooms. The door was pushed open and a middle aged man on crutches stormed – as best he could – out of there.

"I will not put up with that sarcastic bastard for one more minute," the man told Layton. House turned to look. A therapist came out of the room, too. He was a brown-haired man in his late twenties or early thirties, tall – though not quite as tall as House, athletic looking, possibly rowing or soccer – something about him suggested English ancestry. In fact, when he spoke it became apparent that it was not just his ancestry that was English; he spoke in distinctly clipped Queen's English.

"I believe I told you that I do not perform miracles. Just because you find stories on the Internet about how such and such herbal mixture has speeded up the recovery from multiple fractures does not mean I have to go along with such drivel. Your leg was in a cast for nearly six months. Your muscles atrophied distinctly during that time and only time and work will reverse that. I don't care what kind of idiots you meet in between your visits here, as long as you do the exercises I have told you to do. Have your chi realigned, find your missing charka, do whatever you want, but don't expect me to participate in such nonsense."

"Now see how things work out when you want to," House pointed out with delight. "Helen can have this patient who will be only too happy to just visualise his healing, and someone else has an opening for me."

"I'm not sure David is the best choice for you," Layton tried to interfere.

"Something wrong with his qualifications?" House demanded.

"Nothing, in fact he is highly qualified," Layton replied indignantly, like he would ever hire anyone incompetent.

"Excellent," House chirped. "And as I already know he is not an idiot, everything seems perfect." With that he turned and limped towards David. Layton was stunned for a moment, but as he had another irate patient at his hands he decided to let be. He turned to the patient and suggested he might like Helen as his therapist as she was suddenly available.

House limped to the Englishman standing at the therapy room door.

"Seems that you and Helen ended up switching patients," House told him as an introduction.

"Works for me, Dr. House," David replied. "At least it is highly unlikely that you are an idiot. Come in and don't mind the decorations."

House limped into the room and understood the remark about the decorations. There were prisms hanging in front of the window and the light shining through them formed rainbows on the walls. There was also a faint scent of lemon in the air.

"Not your room?" House asked.

"Oh no, this is my room all right," David told him. "It's just that most of my patients are children. I prefer them to adults. You're honest with them, they're honest with you. I find that it helps them if they have something interesting to look at, especially when the therapy is painful. Same reason for the lemon scent I use; makes it seem a little less like a hospital room."

"Ok. As long as you don't expect me to wax lyrical over the pretty patterns or anything," House said.

"Wouldn't dream of it," David smiled nodding to House to seat himself. "Let's see then what they did to your leg." House took off his trousers and sat on the treatment table. David examined the leg, the muscles on the thigh and the extent of the damage done. "Somebody did a proper butchering job on your leg," he concluded. "And it happened quite some time ago. Why come to therapy only now?"

"Didn't have a reason before," House answered curtly.

"And now you have?"

"Now I have a daughter," House replied, with a very small soft smile, which David did notice. Maybe Dr. House was not quite the bastard his reputation indicated.

"There really isn't hell of a lot I can do here," David shook his head. "You already know that nothing will grow back the muscle they gouged out. So what is your primary goal in this?"

"I need to cut down on my Vicodin intake and I'm willing to try anything that might work," House told him.

"I see," David mused. "They took a big chunk out. You lost almost as much of your leg as you would have had they amputated from the ankle. The muscles next to the one you lost cannot take over and the strain must be causing cramps. I wouldn't be surprised if some of it was phantom pain, too. That would make things even more difficult. What have you tried so far?"

"Vicodin," House replied. "And last summer we tried Ketamine. It worked at first, but then things got back to normal. Until my brush with the law which screwed things up a little, but that is over, too."

"Yes, I heard about that witch-hunt," David revealed. "Sounded rather stupid from the start. I never quite understood how officer Tritter had such a free run of the hospital. Could not have happened in England."

"I'm not sure it could have happened here, either, a few years back," House pondered. "However, he is gone and I'm still here."

"Right. I think the best we can do with your leg is to try and reduce the cramping," David told him. "If some of the pain is phantom pain, we can try some of the methods that have been found useful in treating that, but I'm not too optimistic. However, if we can treat the cramping that should help you cut down on the Vicodin, so this is certainly worth a try. I think today I'll give you a massage and show you some simple exercises that ought to help you relax the muscles. Next time I'll have a more thorough programme planned and we can try some of those treatments for phantom pain."

About an hour later House got his clothes back on and got ready to leave. However, before he left he wanted some of his curiosity satisfied.

"So what is your sport? Rowing?" House asked.

"Perceptive of you," David replied. "Yes, I used to row for Cambridge."

"Cambridge, England, I presume," House clarified earning a mock superior glance from David.

"Naturally," David nodded. "Had I meant one of the many Cambridges in the Colonies, I would have said so."

"EX-colonies, my boy, EX-colonies," House reminded him. "The sun has most definitely set on the British Empire now." He left the room and limped towards the exit. Before he went out of the door he heard David shout.

"Hey, House, remember to get your Colonial ass here same time next week, too."

"Fine, Your Imperial Highness, I'll tell my minions to note it down on my calendar."


	10. Two men and a baby

_And this is day three since House got back to the hospital, so it's a Wednesday. Aiko is now 17 days old._

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Next morning House got to work at his usual time. He told the ducklings that Blythe would join them later in the day, but she was going to spend the morning shopping for things for Aiko. Though it was only the third day a routine of sorts had already formed. In the morning House did his clinic hours, while Cameron sorted his mail and watched over Aiko. Later, when Cameron, too, needed to go to the clinic Cuddy did her paperwork in House's office until he returned from the clinic to take Aiko to the maternity ward for her bath and to be nursed. Today was supposed to be the last day before Mrs. Hartig was released from the maternity ward with her baby boy. Once that happened it was possible that changes in the routine would occur, but today followed pretty much the pattern established in the previous two days.

Once Aiko was bathed and fed, House brought her back to his office to sleep. Cameron was back from her clinic duty and Blythe was expected to join them soon. When Wilson called House into the cancer ward for a consult House had no qualms about leaving Aiko in Cameron's care. However, almost as soon as he was gone, Cameron, too, was called away. One of her patients had an adverse reaction to some medication. Since House's mother was expected to arrive soon, and Chase and Foreman were in the conference room so Aiko would not be alone even for a moment, Cameron didn't hesitate to leave, especially since it was highly unlikely that Aiko would need anything until House, Cameron or Blythe got there. So far House had not let Foreman or Chase to touch Aiko, but they were still doctors and if something unexpected happened perfectly capable of carrying Aiko out of the burning building – or whatever the emergency might be.

Cameron hadn't been gone for more than ten minutes than Aiko started to fuss in her crib. She wasn't exactly crying, but certainly working towards it. Something was making her uncomfortable. Both Chase and Foreman went to check on her.

"She is not hungry," Chase decided. "She ate only an hour ago and she is not making any sucking motions with her mouth."

"I think she needs to be changed," Foreman concluded. "We have heard her make these noises before."

"Do you think Cameron or House's mother will be here soon?" Chase asked.

"No idea," Foreman said biting his lip. "I doubt it. Or at least not soon enough to do anything before her starts crying."

"So what do we do?" Chase asked. "House will kill us if we touch her."

"And what do you think he will do if we let her just cry?" Foreman asked back.

"Kill us," Chase agreed.

"So either way we are likely to be dead," Foreman pointed out. "I think the only choice we have is to decide which action kills us for sure."

"Leaving her to cry until someone else arrives would be my guess," Chase voted.

"I think so, too," Foreman agreed. "So what do we do now?"

"Well, we have seen House and Cameron do it often enough so we know where all the stuff is," Chase shrugged. "You take her and I'll get the things ready."

Suiting actions to words Chase got the changing table ready, with all the necessary stuff out and Foreman took Aiko out of her crib gently and securely, cooing to her. Given that it was the first time, they did pretty well. Sure they fumbled a little with undressing and dressing the baby as the hooks and buttons were unfamiliar but they got her changed just fine without making Aiko cry or in any way show she was unhappy with the proceedings. Once the diaper was disposed of and Aiko was back in her crib – after a cuddle with both of her temporary nannies – they high-fived each other and then quickly returned to the conference room to make sure nobody would catch them. Too bad they hadn't seen House watch them through the half-closed blinds almost from the beginning.

About five minutes after Chase and Foreman had returned to the conference room House returned to his office – he had retreated before those two had had time to see him and waited in hiding for a few minutes before coming back again. He opened the door to the conference room.

"Hey, where's Cameron?" He asked the two occupants.

"Her patient needed her," Chase answered.

"She left just a few minutes ago," Foreman elaborated.

"Hmm. I suppose it's ok, then," House growled. "Though I'm not sure I like her leaving Aiko alone."

"She is not alone," Chase protested.

"She has been fed and changed," Foreman put in. "It's not likely she would need anything before Cameron could get back. And in case of a fire or something, we were here."

"Ok," House conceded. "I'm taking Aiko downstairs to wait for my Mother. I'm fairly sure she wants to have a detailed discussion of everything she got for Aiko and that is not my area of expertise, so I'm going to draft Cuddy for that duty."

Not long after that House was gone and Foreman and Chase looked at each other sighing in relief.

"Yeah, mate, we got away with it," Chase smiled.

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House had been right about his mother. She and Cuddy spent a whole hour in going through all the things that Blythe had got for Aiko. House spent most of that time in the clinic. Anything was better than the shop-a-holics anonymous meeting in Cuddy's office. Eventually it was over and Blythe came to get her son from the clinic and they all, Aiko included, went back to House's office. Once there, Cameron too had to see everything Blythe had bought and with a groan House retreated into his office to listen to his iPod and watch over Aiko.

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Later that day House was alone in his office. Blythe and Cameron had taken Aiko for a stroll in the new baby pram that Blythe had got for her. House was sitting at his desk. He had a brush in his hand, some ivory coloured Japanese paper in front of him and an open bottle of blue ink next to it.

He was just about to dip his brush in the ink when a man entered his office. He was about House's age, average height, with greying, dark hair, grey-blue eyes and reasonably handsome face. House looked up questioningly.

"Are you Dr. House?" the man asked.

House sighed, set down his brush and closed the ink bottle. "What is it?" He asked.

"I'm Gordon Butler. I believe you hired my daughter yesterday as a Nanny," was the answer.

"If you mean Kasumii Tanaka, then I believe she is your step-daughter," House corrected the man.

"Same difference," Butler said.

"One would hope so," House agreed. "But in your case, I doubt it."

"What do you mean?" Butler was instantly suspicious, which made House raise his eyebrows as anger or indignation would have been the preferred responses.

"Just that I find it hard to believe you would have allowed a daughter to be raised almost totally away from you," House shrugged.

"It's true that I could have done things differently, and probably would have had I been older at the time, but that is the past," Butler replied tightly. "What I am now concerned of is her future. Her mother worries about her, and I don't think her working for you is a good idea."

"I believe she is twenty-one years of age," House pointed out. "Who she wants to work for is her decision, no matter what you may think."

"Being twenty-one does not make her mature enough to make decisions like this," Butler insisted.

"I believe the law disagrees with you on that point," House declared.

"The law does not know her," Butler stated. "It would be much better for her to stay with her mother for a few more years. I want you to call Kasumii and tell her that you have changed your mind about hiring her. That you think she is too young and you have found someone more suited to the position."

"But I haven't," House stated the obvious. "Besides, she suits me just fine. I see absolutely no reason to call her and tell her any different, especially as she wouldn't believe me anyway. Norland trained Nannies who also speak Japanese are not exactly thick on the ground around here."

"Look, I don't care what suits you, I just want you to tell her that you have changed your mind," Butler was getting agitated. "Does it matter if the reason you give her is a lie?"

"It's true that everybody lies," House nodded. "But right now I'm much more interested in your lies than mine. What is it that you are lying about?"

"I'm not lying about anything," Butler insisted. "I just want to make my wife happy by making sure her daughter spends more time with her."

"I suppose better late than never," House agreed. "That is, if I believed you even in the slightest. But I don't. You see, the problem I have with you is that your words sound pretty much ok, but all in all you come across more as a jealous boy-friend than a concerned step-father. Curious, don't you think?"

"What are you implying?" Butler asked indignantly. "How dare you suggest that there is something improper going on between me and my stepdaughter?"

"And that is another curious thing," House observed. "One would think that if you are so concerned over Kasumii and her new job, the first thing you would do is to research her new boss, but apparently you haven't bothered to find out anything about me – apart from my name and place of employment, which you probably heard from Kasumii in the first place. You see, had you bothered to find out anything about me, you would have known that there are very few things I don't dare."

"I find your suggestion insulting in the extreme," Butler stated. "I have not molested my stepdaughter and to say that I would even dream of anything of the sort is ... I don't even have words to tell you how insulting that is."

"That is probably because you are lying through your teeth," House mused. "Not that I think you have molested her. She does not come across as someone who has been molested. But you do dream about it. And who could be surprised. There you were, in the prime of your life and this fifteen year old, exquisitely beautiful stepdaughter came into your household to live with you. You hadn't had a chance to develop any fatherly feelings towards her, as you had never been a father to her, so what would you feel? Just what any normal, red-blooded man would: lust. Understandable, even if not honourable or right, but then, men generally are pigs."

"You don't know what you are talking about," Butler fumed. "But what you are saying makes me even more determined to see that Kasumii will not come anywhere near you. You can consider her employment with you terminated."

"Sorry, you cannot hand me her resignation, she has to do it herself," House pointed out. "And I don't think you can make her do it. Not without revealing the contents of this conversation and I seriously doubt you want to do that."

"You'll see," Butler promised. "I will find a reason that will convince her to stay away from you. It is true I didn't check you up before now, but I will do it, and I'm sure I will find something."

"Oh, you won't even need to work very hard to find something," House agreed. "Will that convince Kasumii to stay home, however, is another matter entirely. I don't think anything will. You see, she does not bear the appearance of someone who has been molested, but she does bear the appearance of someone who has been thoroughly embarrassed. I think she knows you lust after her, but she finds you unappealing, probably both because of your age and because you are married to her mother."

"I see that I was wrong in thinking you were a decent man who would listen to reason," Butler was near to explosion. "Fine, I won't try to make you change your mind, but do not expect to see Kasumii again."

"Her choice," House stated. "We will see what she decides. But just so that we understand each other, I will not accept any resignation from her that she doesn't hand in, in person; either to me or to Dr. Cuddy."

Without further words Gordon Butler stormed out of House's office. House looked at the writing materials at his desk for a moment, sighed in resignation and gathered them up placing them out of the way. He then got Kasumii's references out of his desk and found her mobile phone number. He called her, but got only her voicemail. He left a message requesting her to come and meet him some time that day, as soon as she could. He would be in the hospital till five o'clock.

Soon after that Blythe and Cameron came back with Aiko. House was happy to have his daughter in his arms again. He didn't say it, but he suspected he had become addicted to her presence. He had grown accustomed to her face. Mind you, judging by the soft, knowing looks he got from his mother and Cameron, he didn't really need to say it. They knew Aiko had him wrapped right round her little finger.

House had just got Aiko fed and changed; he had sung her to sleep in his arms and placed her in her crib when Kasumii found him in his office.

"I got your message," Kasumii said. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

"May be," House answered. "We need to talk. Come to the roof with me."

"Greg," Blythe called him. "Are you going to be away for long? Only I promised to meet your father soon and Cameron may need to check on her patient."

"It's ok, Mother," House reassured Blythe on his way out with Kasumii. "You can go. If Cameron needs to step out of the office for a moment we still have Mammy and Mammy's little helper watching over Aiko."

Foreman and Chase looked at each other in shock.

"He knows," Chase stated. "How can he know?"

"He is House," Foreman concluded. "He always knows. Though how – beats me."


	11. Misty story

_Thanks for the reviews again, I'm getting rather addicted to them :) Well better them than Vicodin, I think. _

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House took Kasumii to the roof. He leaned against the parapet and let his gaze roam the grounds. Kasumii didn't quite know what to do, join him ask him what this was all about or turn around and leave. Well, the last option was really not an option since she was way too curious about her summons – and even after just one meeting (well, two if you count the encounter at the lobby as separate from the interview), she knew that he would just come after her. He wanted something and he was going to get it. So she joined him, leaning next to him against the low wall and waited.

"Your mother's husband came by today," House told her. He didn't turn to her when he said that.

"Oh," Kasumii was uncertain how she was supposed to react to that. "Did he ... Why?"

"Basically he came to tell me that I ought to terminate your employment," now House turned to her.

"But I haven't even started yet!" Kasumii gasped.

"Precisely," House agreed. "In addition to that, I didn't get a very fatherly feeling from him. So I think it is time you tell me why you are so anxious to move away from home?"

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean," Kasumii said uncertainly refusing to look him in they eyes. House put his finger to her chin and turned her face up.

"It's not just your imagination," he told her. "Talk."

"He has never said anything or done anything," Kasumi tried to mostly convince herself.

"That is good," House agreed. "But there is still a story there, so spill."

"But I'm not sure how much of it is just in my head!"

"Having met him, I don't think any of it is just in your head," House said gently.

"I never had anything to do with him until I was fifteen and moved in with my Mother and him," Kasumii sighed in defeat and started her story. "Mother did come to see me as often as she could, but she was always alone. I have a good relationship with my mother, even if it isn't exactly normal by American standards, but you know that in Asia it is not that uncommon for children to be brought up by their grandparents. I was happy to come to the States to live with her when I turned fifteen and they settled down here. At first I thought that I was awkward with him because I didn't really know him. And vice versa, I suppose. I figured that it wasn't easy for him either to suddenly have a teenage daughter in his home, not that I was that difficult. I didn't throw any temper tantrums; I didn't do drugs or anything. I did well in school – my grandparents had made sure I was fluent in English since I do have dual citizenship. I tried to be un-intrusive, tried to stay out of his way when I thought he was busy. But then I started to notice that he was sort of popping up at unexpected places. He never said anything improper he never did anything improper but his eyes just made me uncomfortable. I felt like he was watching me all the time. Sure it could have been concern; he might just have wanted to see how I was adjusting to a new country and new life. But it made me nervous."

"That's when you decided to go to England to get your Nanny diploma?" House prompted her.

"Yes. I just felt too uncomfortable at home," Kasumii nodded. "Besides it was a logical move. I had always wanted to be a Nanny and Norland is the best school. Having my diploma from there would enable me to work almost anywhere in the world. As you said, there is a demand for Norland Nannies in Japan, too. Anyway, having spend three years in England – well, three and a half nearly, as I had a short job in England substituting for another Norland Nanny who needed a few months of sick-leave. But having been away for that long I had quite forgotten about my suspicions – or actually I had dismissed them as overactive teenage imagination. But when I got back, it started again. Only it has been worse. He still hasn't said anything, but he seeks my company more and half the time he does it when my Mother is not around. I'm right in the middle of it all, and I still don't feel sure that what I think is happening is really happening. He is married to my mother, why would he ... How could he ... but if it is all in my mind, what does it say about me?"

"Hey, it is not just in your mind; how many times do I have to tell you that," House told her. "When he came here he acted more like a jealous boyfriend than a concerned step-father. Look, you are an extremely beautiful young woman – even in old jeans and a baggy duffel coat. You probably resemble your mother, which definitely makes you his type. He can have no fatherly feelings for you as he has never been a father to you – due to his own stupidity, but that is another matter. When you first came here, you were fifteen. Fortunately he is not into children so he kept his distance though he was attracted to you even then. When you turned eighteen, and probably old enough in his estimation, you were also smart enough to move away from him. Now you are back and you are definitely old enough, and now he is probably planning to do something about his infatuation."

"But he is married! To MY Mother," Kasumii insisted.

"The thing about men is that they are pigs," House sighed. "Marriage, honour, common sense, you name it they can ignore it when they decide to go after something they want, especially if they believe that the something they want can somehow make them young again. Or even give an illusion of it. I'm sure you have already noticed that our culture is very hung up on youth. Plastic surgery, that was originally invented to help people injured in accidents or with genuine deformities, is now mostly used to smooth wrinkles and tighten saggy jaw-lines. Men do it too, but mostly they want their youth vicariously, through a younger wife – or a mistress, depending on the man, but they still want it. You have been lucky in that your step-father is not the biggest pig there is, but you are not imagining anything. He lusts after you; and your decision to move out of his sphere was the right one."

"But you said he doesn't want me to move," Kasumii sighed.

"And that can cause problems. Especially once he realises that you really are going to move. He may get desperate and as a result of that dangerous," House cautioned her.

"What do I do?" She wanted to know.

"First of all, is there a lock on your door?" House asked and at Kasumii's nod he went on: "Then you are probably safe tonight. Of course you do know self-defence so you can probably get away from him anyway, but there is your mother to be considered as well. But anyway, he is going to try and persuade you to stay first before he does anything too obvious."

"How does he think he can convince me to stay?" Kasumii wondered.

"Oh, he is going to comply a list of all my sins and present it to you in order to scare you into resigning," House shrugged.

"You mean he is going to lie to me about you? Make you seem dangerous or something."

"He probably doesn't have to lie," House grimaced. "My record, both official and especially the unofficial one, is less than pristine. In fact it might be a good idea for you to read it so that you know what you are getting into."

"Are** you** now trying to persuade me to change my mind about working for you?" Kasumii questioned.

"No, no. I expect you to start work come Monday," House assured her. "But you do have the right to resign if you don't like working for me. Most don't – or at least they haven't."

"Ok, so he is going to check you out. Once he hands me the file, what do I do?" Kasumii wanted to know.

"If he has time to hand it to you, you accept it and say you will read it and consider it," House explained. "But, tomorrow afternoon, you will move out. Don't give him time to react, just move. I will send Chase and Foreman to help you with the move, just to make sure everything goes smoothly. If Cuddy is not ready to take you in, you can stay in a hotel, I'm paying, or possibly we can ask Cameron if she has room to put you up for a couple of nights."

"You think I really am in danger?" Kasumii frowned uncertainly.

"I might be wrong, but do you really want to risk it?" House answered seriously.

"No, I don't think I do," Kasumii decided.

"Ok, let's go down and arrange your move," House nodded. "Only, don't tell your step-father that you have spoken with me. The less warning he has, the better."

"I agree. If I'm going to do this, then I better do it quickly and without warning."

"Right, let's move then."

"Just one thing," Kasumii stopped him. "You said that men are pigs. What about you?"

"Me?" House turned to look at her and saw a hint of mischief in her face. "Well, I'm a cripple."

"Does that mean you are not a pig?"

"Goodness, no," House exclaimed. "It just means that you can outrun me."

Kasumii laughed. "Do I really need to?"

"Nah," House denied. "I'm not into infants."

As they were getting ready to leave the roof, the door opened from inside. House and Kasumii stood aside to let whoever it was come out. It turned out to be David, House's physiotherapist. He greeted House briefly, but froze on his tracks when he saw Kasumii. House got the impression that Kasumii, too, had forgotten to breath for a second.

"David," House greeted him. "So you like the roof, too?"

"Yeah, I like to come out here to think," David responded a little distractedly.

"Yes, I find that this place is very good for that," House nodded sagely. "Oh, this, by the way, is Aiko's Nanny, David. Ms. Tanaka." House then turned to Kasumii. "And this is ... wait a minute; I don't think I know your last name David?"

"Grey, David Grey, Ms. Tanaka," David said, taking Kasumii's hand and bringing it to his lips in a brief, graceful, intimate and yet strangely formal greeting. "Pleased to meet you."

"Smooth, David, smooth," House commented from the sidelines.

"Likewise, Mr. Grey," Kasumii responded, ignoring House.

"Now, simmer down you two," House interrupted them. "Kasumii and I have things to do as surely do you, too David. So I have to break up this mutual admiration society, and we'll get going. And don't worry, Kasumii will spend a lot of time in the hospital, so you have plenty of time to moon over each other."

"House, do you think you could be even a little less obnoxious?" David asked him.

"No, not in my nature," House responded as he escorted Kasumii inside.

--------------------------------

Later that day House was in his office writing the letter that Gordon Butler's visit had interrupted. Kasumii's move had been planned and after this one night she was staying with Cameron till Sunday, when she was moving in to Cuddy's guest room. House had got things organised and was now concentrating on other things, like his letter. His brush was moving in graceful arches over the ivory surface of the paper forming elegant vertical rows of _Kanji_ when Wilson walked in.

"What are you doing?" Wilson asked puzzled.

"I'm writing a letter to Aiko's grandfather," House replied. "I have kept him informed through email, but since I don't have _kanji_ on my computer, I have written to him in English. And those messages have been just brief notes. I'm now writing him a proper letter, in Japanese, to inform him of what is going on in Aiko's life."

"You can write Japanese?" Wilson wondered.

"Well you know I speak the language, is writing it such a surprise then?" House asked.

"I suppose not," Wilson conceded.

"So did you just come in to comment on my Japanese or did you have some other reason for your visit?" House questioned as he carefully set down his brush.

"I just wanted to talk to you about your idiotic request that I call Kasumii _Ms. Tanaka_," Wilson revealed. "If we are going to see each other as much as I think, given that I am Aiko's Uncle Jimmy, to be that formal is just silly."

"In Japan only the closest family can call you by your first name, so I don't see anything silly in my request," House mused. "Also, keeping things formal between you two will help you to remember that she is not working here to give you an opportunity to get yourself a wife number four. Though, given what happened today, I think your chances of impressing her that way, have just changed from minimal to non-existent."

"What do you mean?" Wilson frowned.

"I think she just fell in love today," House informed his friend gleefully.

"Love? Just today? How? When? Who?" Wilson was full of questions.

"Well, I was having a chat with her on the roof and we ran into my physical therapist," House told Wilson. "He is a strapping young fellow with the smoothest manners you have ever seen and a killer British accent. He kissed her hand, and Kasumii just melted into a puddle. So I rather think you are out of the running now."

"Are you telling me that after having warned me off, and in the rudest way you could come up with, you just stood by and let this Britt make his moves on her, and you didn't stop him?" Wilson demanded indignantly.

"I suppose I am," House mused. "Of course, if things go south with him, they never need to see each other again, unlike with you – since you **are **Aiko's Uncle Jimmy – so interfering there was not that important. Though the next time I see him, when I go to my therapy, I will definitely tell him to watch his steps, because if his actions prevent Kasumii from taking the best possible care of Aiko, I will make him suffer."

"But you really should tell him to leave her alone, entirely!" Wilson demanded.

"Hey, I'm a cripple and he is an athlete. He used to row for Cambridge. One does not want to mess with someone like that unnecessarily," House pointed out.

"Fine, have it your way," Wilson muttered. "But I still think you should protect Kasumii better."

"You know, just because her name means _Misty_, is no reason for you to go so misty-eyed with her, that you cannot see that she is way too young for you," House told his friend. "Or that you are too old for her. She is only twenty-one, man. Leave the cradle snatching to those who are themselves in the cradle, too."

After a moment of silence during which Wilson pondered on House's statement, Wilson got closer to the desk to look at the letter he had interrupted.

"So you really write Japanese," he asked.

"Yes, I really do," House confirmed.


	12. Moves

_Thank you for the reviews! I really wish I could update more often, but unfortunately I have a living to earn so this has to remain my week-end vice_ ;)

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Thursday afternoon Kasumii was waiting for Chase and Foreman to come and help her move her things to Cuddy's. She had spoken with her mother about the move in the morning – as soon as Gordon Butler had left for the day – and though Mrs. Butler was not exactly thrilled to see her daughter leave home, she did not object to it either. After all, it was not like Kasumii was moving back to the other side of the world; they could meet almost as often as they wanted (Aiko's care permitting). Kasumii had also made a point of telling her mother that though Dr. House had a reputation that could raise an eyebrow or two, he had been nothing but courteous to her (ok, she was stretching the truth a little there, but it was close enough). She had managed to convince her mother that she was happy to work for Dr. House (which was perfectly true), and that she was confident that she would be perfectly safe with him (no lies there) and happy (at least if she saw more of that interesting Mr. Grey). Having reassured her mother of her foreseeable future Kasumii was now waiting for her ride alone, as Mrs. Butler had had a previously arranged meeting with one of the charities she was involved in.

Chase and Foreman arrived on the agreed time. Kasumii met them at the door and directed them first to the garage, where some of her things from Japan were stored and once those boxes were in the minivan they had borrowed from one of Cameron's neighbours they followed her to her room to get the rest of her things. They had made two trips already and the final boxes were waiting for transport while Kasumii checked that she had everything – not that she could not come back for whatever was left behind, but she preferred not to risk needing to come back for something important when only Mr. Butler was home – so when Gordon Butler appeared at the door of her room, she was not thrilled.

"What are you doing?" Butler asked almost aggressively.

"I'm moving out," Kasumii answered trying to remain calm. Now that she had a second opinion of her step-father's behaviour, she was not willing to cut him any slack. "Dr. House arranged some help for me, and so I'm leaving a little sooner than originally planned."

"I told you not to do anything rash before I had him checked out!" Butler reminded her of a conversation they had had the night before.

"I don't think I am doing anything rash," Kasumii insisted.

"Look, Mimi," Butler used his _special_ name for Kasumii – until now she had never told him that she didn't like it, especially as it sounded a lot like the Japanese word for an ear. "I cannot let you go and work for someone like House. See, I got this report of him just an hour ago and he really is not the sort of person who I would want anywhere near you."

"Look Gordon," Kasumii used his first name though she knew he would not understand the disrespect she was showing him by using it. "I don't like being called Mimi, and I don't appreciate you doing a background check on Dr. House. I know all I need to know about him and I have no qualms what so ever of working with him. This is what I want, this is what I choose to do and this is what I will do."

"Look Mimi – ok, Kasumii," Butler corrected himself as Kasumii frowned at him. "You cannot leave now, we are only just getting to know each other and I ... I have plans that, now that you are old enough, you would want to know about. You have to stay!" He grabbed her arm to get her attention. He sure got it. She had felt creepy with him before, but now that she knew that she was not just imagining things, that he really was lusting after her – his wife's daughter – he made her feel like something really slimy was touching her. Before she had time to think, she twisted her body and Gordon Butler found himself on the floor, flat on his back.

"It could be just me, but I think I would take that as a no," Chase said. He and Foreman had got back from the van just in time to catch the end of the conversation and Kasumii's reaction to Butler's suggestion.

"No, it is not just you," Foreman confirmed. "That was definitely a no. In fact I would go as far as to say that it was a **Hell no!**"

"I think you are right," Chase agreed. He then retrieved the last box from Kasumii's room, gave it to Foreman and then took the last suitcase for himself. "Ready Ms. Tanaka?"

"Just let me get this," Kasumii said and bend down to take the file Gordon Butler had had with him. "Since he went to such trouble to get it, I might as well have it. Goodbye Gordon, I don't think we will meet again." And she followed Chase out of the house.

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Having deposited most of Kasumii's things at Cuddy's – except for the last suitcase that held things she would need till Sunday – Kasumii, Chase and Foreman got to Cameron's apartment. Foreman took the car keys to the neighbour who had lent them his minivan and then he returned to the others, who were sharing pizza and bear in Cameron's living room.

"Anyway, there he was, flat on the floor not knowing what had hit him," Chase described their exit from the Butler residence. "I'm assuming he didn't know you knew Aikido?"

"I don't think it ever came up," Kasumii told him. "I tried to avoid speaking to him as much as possible."

"From what we saw, I'd say that was a wise move," Foreman said.

"House was a bit vague about the reason he wanted Chase and Foreman to help you," Cameron mused. "Did you tell him what your step-father was alike?"

"No. Gordon went to see him and he just made the right conclusions," Kasumii admitted. "Until Dr. House told me his opinion of Gordon, I was not sure I had read the situation correctly. It may make me look stupid, but he is my mother's husband!"

"Yeah, we rarely want to believe ill of our parents – even if it is only a step-parent," Chase nodded.

"Besides, even when you doubted yourself, you still did what you could to protect yourself," Foreman commended her. "That was smart."

"Thank you," Kasumii smiled shyly.

"So, now that you have rescued yourself from your step-father, how are you going to rescue yourself from House?" Chase asked. "If you will throw him, too, I want to see it."

"She is in no danger from House!" Cameron swatted Chase with a pillow.

"Not physically," Foreman agreed. "But he can drive you crazy like no other person you will ever meet!"

"Really?" Kasumii wondered. "I rather like him, especially the way he is about his daughter."

"Well, he has been different since Aiko came along, but it has only been a week," Chase said. "I'm not sure it will last."

"What do you mean?" Cameron demanded.

"He means that Aiko is a novelty now," Foreman stated. "Once the novelty wears off, especially if she gets colic or for some other reason stops being such an easy child she is now, there is no guarantee what House will do. He is not exactly noted for patience or constancy."

"You think he would abandon his child?" Kasumii asked incredulously.

"He would never do that," Cameron insisted.

"We are not talking about him abandoning her as such," Chase accompanied Foreman. "But he is bound to loose interest in her. Of course he will make sure she has everything she needs in the sense of care and physical needs – after all, that is why he hired a Nanny for Aiko. But I cannot see him go on being an attentive father! He gets bored too easily."

"I can't believe you guys!" Cameron huffed. "He has been nothing short of wonderful with Aiko, and you two are just waiting for him to ... I don't know, to suddenly turn away from her, suddenly become cold and callous and uncaring. Where are your eyes! Haven't you seen him with her? Do you really think he can just switch his emotions on and off as the whim takes him?"

"Well, yea," Chase shrugged. "He is not exactly noted for being overly emotional. He doesn't care about anyone."

"You have to admit that warm and fuzzy he ain't," Foreman pointed out.

"Don't listen to them," Cameron said to Kasumii. "They don't know what they are talking about. Just because House prefers to keep his private feelings and thoughts private does not mean he doesn't have them."

"I find this quite interesting," Kasumii admitted. "I know I have only just met him, and since he sort of rescued me from my step-father, I'm bound to see him in a positive light, but it is interesting to see how you see him. It is obvious from the way you behave around him, that you all have great admiration for him, yet you seem to almost fear him on some level, hate him on another and even despise him a little. A man who can evoke all those emotions in others cannot be cold himself. He is reserved, that was obvious from the moment I met him, but I find that comfortable. It is a very Japanese quality. Are you right about him getting tired of being a father, I don't know. Only time will tell, but he comes across as a man who when he makes a commitment, will honour it to his last breath. He has already made great changes in his life to accommodate Aiko; I think that is an indication that he is serious about being a father to her."

"I don't doubt his current intentions," Foreman defended his point of view. "What I do doubt, is his ability to follow through. As I said, he gets bored easily."

"I'm sure he will be tired from time to time," Kasumii explained. "He will get disheartened, he will regret some of his choices, he will doubt himself; he will think that Aiko would be better off with someone else – that is what all parents feel from time to time. Parenting is a very hard job. But having seen him with his daughter I cannot believe he would ever stop loving her."

"There!" Cameron gloated. "She can see it too. As would you two, if you would just look at him without prejudice."

"Look, Ms. Tanaka is right; we cannot know what will happen," Foreman stood up. "Only time will tell what kind of father House will turn out to be. I have my doubts, but for Aiko's sake I hope I'm wrong. Anyway, nothing will be resolved tonight, and I think it's time we left you girls to your own devices and left. Thanks for the pizza and beer Cameron, see you on Monday, Ms. Tanaka."

"Yes, Foreman is right," Chase agreed. "Time for us to go. Thanks Cameron and see you next week, Ms. Tanaka."

Cameron saw the guys to the door. Foreman got out first but Chase lingered for a moment.

"Are you falling for him again, Cameron?" He asked his colleague. "Cause that would not be a good idea. Even if you are right and he is softening because of Aiko that does not mean that he is really changing."

"Mind your own business, Chase," Cameron told him. "Just because we agreed to be friends with benefits, does not mean you can advice me on my private life."

"I am not trying to poke my nose into your private life, but I am a friend," Chase insisted. "I hate to see you get hurt again – especially when I can't even blame him for it. Just remember that no matter what happens in his life, he is still House." Without further ado, Chase left. Cameron closed the door thoughtfully, but then shrugged his warning off. She wasn't falling for House again, even if she found his behaviour with Aiko cute.

"You have a very tight knit group," Kasumii observed. "It's nice to be able to trust the people you work with."

"Only up to a point," Cameron revealed. "We are working on our careers, after all, so rivalries are inevitable. But they are friends. Of course Foreman claims that we are suffering from the Stockholm syndrome, you know, House is keeping us hostage and we become dependent of him and of each other. He may have something there. House is larger than life, in some ways, and he does tend to make you forget that there is life away from him, too."

"You all have a very interesting relationship with Dr. House," Kasumii observed.

"You have that right," Cameron nodded. "But you will see why soon enough. You will also find him totally impossible quite often, so for those time let me give you some advice. He hates interviews. So if he is too horrid to you just threaten to leave and make him try and find another Nanny for Aiko. The mere idea of having to interview people will make him think twice about how he is treating you." Cameron paused for a moment. "Of course, there are times when – even after he has thought twice – he will still be horrid, but you will probably get used to it. It's just words, after all."

"Though they say _sticks and stones_, it is not true that words cannot hurt," Kasumii mused having noticed a little twinge of hurt flash through Cameron's eyes. "I would think that someone as observant as Dr. House, could find quite a few words that cut a person to the core like _Ha_."

"_Ha_?" Cameron questioned. "What is that?"

"The cutting edge of a sword," Kasumii explained. "And I think Dr. House could very well use words to kill if he feels the need."

"Yeah, he can do that," Cameron agreed ruefully. "And that is a good thing to remember around him."

"I will," Kasumii promised. "Don't worry about me. I may look young and demure and vulnerable, but there is more to me than meets the eye. And should Dr. House turn out to be more impossible than I currently believe, ... well, then Dr. Chase may actually get his wish and see Dr. House measure the carpet!"

"You know, the more I spend time with you, the more I think that you will actually deal with House just fine," Cameron observed. "Come on, I'll show you where everything is and you can unpack your suitcase."


	13. Cry baby

While Chase and Foreman were helping Kasumii to settle in with Cameron, Cuddy found herself at House's door. She was not sure what had brought her there. She had plenty to do at home due to the dinner party she was having Friday night – and it was an important one; she expected to get two new donors for the hospital out of it. But for some reason, all of a sudden the walls of her house were too constricting and she needed to get out. But why did she end up here? Why not her office in the hospital? She felt stupid, but then she figured that having come this far, she would feel – and look – a lot more stupid if she just turned and left, so she knocked on the door.

House opened the door pretty quickly: "Good, it's you, get in."

Cuddy stared at House's retreating back for a second, but then she got in and closed the door. She followed House to the bedroom. As she walked through the apartment, she suddenly became aware of Aiko's cry. She sounded totally inconsolable.

"What is the matter with her?" Cuddy asked as she reached them. House was sitting on his bed, holding Aiko against his shoulder and rubbing her back.

"I think she has colic," House replied. "But I would not mind a second opinion, as this is the first time she has cried like this. She has eaten and I just changed her, and as I am holding her even as she cries, she cannot be feeling lonely, so those causes are out."

"Hmm, colic definitely is the likeliest cause, but I can certainly take a look at her," Cuddy agreed.

"Here," House said handing her first a cloth to protect her clothes and then he carefully handed Aiko to her.

Cuddy took Aiko to the living room and sat on the couch with her. House followed her, but didn't interfere with her examination. He answered patiently her questions, and at one point Cuddy had to check that it really was House, who was with her. Having done her examination the best she could, Cuddy lifted Aiko to her shoulder the same way she had found House doing, and rubbed her back consolingly.

"Seems like colic to me, too," Cuddy agreed. "Unless something unexpected happens, there really is nothing else we can do but to wait it out."

"I was afraid of that," House sighed. "Will you hold her while I get the gas drops?"

"Sure," Cuddy said. "Do you think they will help?"

"I hope they will help, but probably not much," House doubted. "I'll get some heat-pads, too. We can try them on her tummy."

For the next two hours they did all they could to make Aiko feel even a little more comfortable. Cuddy walked with her back and forth in the living room. House rocked her in his arms singing to her both in English and Japanese. They tried the heat pads, they gave her a bath, they rubbed her tummy and her back, they did all they could think of to make her feel better, or at least let her know that she was not alone in her distress.

After the two hours Aiko started to calm down. Gradually her crying ended and after a few extra hick-ups she finally fell asleep in House's arms. Very carefully he handed her to Cuddy who carried her to her crib and placed her there to sleep. When she got back to the living room House met her with a mug of coffee.

"Here, sorry that I don't have anything stronger for you, but as you know I'm now a teetotaller," he said to her.

"This is fine, thanks," Cuddy said accepting the mug gratefully. "Do you think she will sleep now?"

"I think she will be ok for the rest of the night now," House mused. "At least I hope so. She will wake up for her bottle a couple of times, but I hope this is it with the colic for tonight."

"I hope so, too," Cuddy agreed sipping from her mug. "I hated seeing her like that. I really hope this is not the start of the three-month-colic."

"You and me both!" House sighed with deep sincerity. "Thanks for your help, by the way. Which reminds me; I just drafted you into baby-sitting duty without asking what brought you to my door in the first place. It's not like you are a frequent visitor in my humble abode."

"I didn't know what brought me to your door," Cuddy confessed.

"Didn't know?" House repeated puzzled.

"As soon as you put Aiko in my arms I knew what the pull had been," Cuddy smiled ruefully. "As, I'm sure, you have already noticed, she is addictive."

"I'm sorry, Cuddy," House said quietly.

"Sorry for what?" Cuddy frowned questioningly.

"For having a child when I never wanted one, never planned for one, never saw myself as a potential father," House explained. "While you, who wanted one and actually did something about fulfilling your dream ... I'm sorry it didn't work out for you."

"Thanks," Cuddy didn't know what else to say. She felt her eyes tear up and she tried to wipe them discreetly. Naturally she failed to hide them from House. House gave her a searching look.

"You are ovulating," he then stated.

"House!" Cuddy gasped. "Trust you to get into my **very** personal life even now. Have you any idea how ... you are not ... Do you know how disgusting it is that you know my menstrual cycle better than I do? When we don't even sleep together!"

"Well, we could remedy that," House shrugged.

"What?" Cuddy felt like she had suddenly stepped into another conversation that she knew nothing about.

"If your problem is that we haven't slept together," House spelled for her. "Then the remedy is obvious: we do it."

"House," Cuddy sighed. "Don't be disgusting."

"I'm not being disgusting," House huffed. Then he got serious. "Look Cuddy, I have now had Aiko for fifteen days. I didn't have time to want her or not want her before she was mine. I didn't have a choice. But I will kill anyone who tries to take her away from me now. So I can understand your yearning for a child now, at least a little. I know we are not friends in any conventional sense of the word, but conventional or normal has never quite worked for me anyway. In an unconventional but still a very real sense, we are friends. So as a friend I'm asking: as you are ovulating now do you want to do something about it?"

Cuddy stared at him trying to process what he had just said. "I'm not sure I'm ovulating," she finally told him trying to make some sense out of this strange conversation. "I know it's about the time I should be, but since I gave up trying to conceive, I haven't monitored it. I haven't taken my temperature, nor have I done the test."

"Then you just have to trust me: you are ovulating," House told her. "You don't tear up in front of me if you can help it, unless there is a hormonal reason for it."

"Maybe I am," Cuddy shrugged. "It doesn't really matter. I gave up on that dream."

"Why?" House asked. "Just because you miscarried once, is no reason to think you were never meant to be a mother. Yes, you don't have a lot of time before your biological clock ticks time out, but you can still give yourself at least another chance. Even if you don't want to accept my offer, don't let fear rob you off your dream. Afraid is not you!"

"Oh, that is where you are wrong, House," Cuddy smiled sadly. "Afraid is very me. That is why I have a career but no life. I would have thought, you of all people, would have recognised that."

"But even though you focused on your career, you eventually tackled the life issue, too," House pointed out. "And on your own; you didn't wait till you were lucky enough to have someone hand it to you. You did something to get what you wanted. Maybe I didn't completely agree with the way you chose to find a father for your child, but you went after what you wanted. Are you chickening out before you have even properly started?"

"I don't know," Cuddy sighed. "When you put it like that, I suppose I gave up too easily. But the treatments are rough."

"I'm offering you an alternative to them," House reminded her. "If you cannot stomach the idea of having me in your bed – or actually it would be my bed, but you get the idea – then I'm sure Wilson left a turkey paster in the kitchen somewhere. Mind you, I'd much rather wield my own than his!" The last sentence House said wiggling his eyebrows at her suggestively.

"Thank you, but I don't want Wilson's turkey paster anywhere near me," Cuddy made a face. "You do know that you have just made it impossible for me to look him in the eye for at least a week!" Suddenly she thought of something. "Ugh, Wilson! A week is probably just the start of it. You always tell him everything! I'm never going to be able to look at him even after just this conversation. If we did anything more, I would need to relocate to a different state."

"Oh, no, we can't have that!" House insisted. "You are Aiko's second guardian. Besides, I don't tell Wilson everything, I just let him believe I do. Look, if you accept my friendly offer, nobody needs to know. First of all we don't know if it will work; secondly there are people in the hospital who know that you have tried to get pregnant the modern way – no need to inform them that you have decided to go a little more traditional about it. So if you do get preggers, you just let them assume that you tried again. We can even name _it_ A. Nonymous, so you won't be lying if you say your donor was anonymous."

Cuddy couldn't help it. It was the middle of the night, she was tired, House was insane and apparently so was she, as she was actually listening to him. She laughed, hard. Finally she decided to just play out the lunacy for now. "So if we don't use Wilson's turkey paster – either of them – then what is your suggestion?"

"Well, apart from the obvious one, which I would much prefer," House gave her a suggestive leer. "We are doctors. We'll think of something. I'm sure I have syringes lying in my bag or something we can use. But before you decide to go clinical, let me point out that in the Middle-Ages people believed that female orgasm was essential for conception. And I'm not at all sure they didn't know what they were talking about."

"Well, from the point of view of conception your preference has merit," Cuddy nodded. "But there is the little matter of tomorrow. How can I believe that you will not shout it from the roof-tops?"

"Cuddy, my dear," House said patronisingly. "I have been shouting it from the roof-tops for the past seven years or so; just because it would now be true, will not make it any more credible. Only if I suddenly stop making inappropriate remarks about you and your lovely ass, will people start to think that there's something funny going on between us. If we do the deed tonight – and which ever way you choose to go with it, I would still get pretty personal with you – then tomorrow will be no different from any other tomorrow between us. I will come to work late. You will shout at me for being late. I will make an inappropriate remark about your cleavage, or I will mock your administrative skills, or I will just enrage you some other way. You will shout at me and order me to do my clinic hours and we call it a tie and go on with business as usual."

"There is much truth in what you said," Cuddy admitted.

"Look Cuddy," House put his hand on her shoulder and look her straight in the eyes. "Though tonight would be a right time to do it, mine is not a now-or-never offer. If you want to think about it for a month, fine. Or if you don't want to even think about it but choose rather to go back to the clinic that is fine, too. Just don't let fear make your decisions for you."

Cuddy stared at House. She had always found him attractive, but had never had time to really think about it because most of the time she was too busy arguing with him, or trying to make him do his clinic hours – or trying to prevent him from doing something totally outrageous to a patient (and good luck to her trying to do **that**). She gave a deep sigh: "To hell with it! To hell with thinking it all through. I'm tired, I'm crazy – though probably not as crazy as you, but let's do it. I don't want time to chicken out again."

"Ok," House nodded. He was a little surprised. His offer had been genuine, but he had been fairly sure Cuddy would at least want that month to think about it. "So how... ?"

"The old-fashioned way, House," Cuddy told him. "If you leave me alone now, I can't be sure I won't run. And I don't want to run. Just please, don't make me regret trusting you. I really don't want Wilson to get a blow by blow account of this night."

"Oh, I'll give him a blow by blow account," House smiled almost making Cuddy back out. "But only as far as Aiko is concerned. I will leave you quite out of it, unless you want him to know that you helped with her."

"You can tell him that I was here for Aiko," Cuddy agreed. "Chances are, after all, that some of your neighbours saw me come in and Wilson probably knows them better than you do."

"You have a point there," House had to concede as he led Cuddy to his bedroom.

They checked on Aiko first, but she was still fast asleep, obviously her bout with colic had totally exhausted her. After that they turned to each other feeling a little awkward. Their relationship so far had not been exactly heading this way.

"How... What..." Cuddy didn't really know if she wanted to talk or if she even should.

"Would it make it easier for you if you went to the other side of the bed, got undressed and into bed, while I did the same on this side?" House asked her with a small smile.

"Yes," Cuddy answered emphatically. "It would."

---------------------

Afterwards Cuddy cried.

"Hey, I know I'm not the man of your dreams," House pretended to be insulted. "But surely I wasn't that bad!"

"No, it's not you, I'm just..." Cuddy tried to explain through her sobs.

"I see," House nodded sagely. "You are just being a cry-baby."

Cuddy chuckled: "Yep, just that. Hormones, you know."

"Fine, have your cry," House sighed in resignation. "Just remember that I have to get up soon to feed Aiko. If she doesn't get her bottle on the dot, she will seriously out-shine you in the crying department."

Cuddy sniffed a few times and managed to get her crying under control: "I need to get up, too. I still have to get home and get some sleep before tomorrow."

"Ok," House agreed. "If you need a t-shirt or something, help yourself. And thank you for helping with Aiko." He got up and went to the kitchen to get Aiko's bottle.

Cuddy got out of the bed, too, showered quickly and did borrow one of House's t-shirts. She was ready to go by the time House started to feed Aiko.

"I hope she won't get the colic again tonight," Cuddy said as she watched them.

"Probably not, but I have to make sure she burps often during the feeding," House told her. "Thanks again for your help. Try to get some sleep once you get home. See you in the morning."

"Yes, tomorrow," Cuddy nodded and turned to go.

As she headed out she heard House say behind her: "Just remember that I still won't respect you tomorrow!"

"As long as you remember that you still owe me a number of clinic hours and nothing will get you out of them," Cuddy threw back at him with a smile. It seemed that things would go on as normal after all, though tomorrow would be the real test.


	14. Friday

_Thank you for the reviews! It seems the alert system is down again, but I still check your opinions – as I said, it gets addictive. _

_In "All things uncomely and broken" I had a slight House/Cameron ship; in this story there is a little of Cameron/Chase and some kind of a ship between House/Cuddy. I'm not strongly for or against any ship, so as these seem to fit this story, I just go with them._

_And a medical warning: I am not a doctor; though I do try to do some research on whatever illness I'm using to get on with my story, I may well get it wrong! Remember, this is just fiction. _:)

----------------------

Friday morning House wheeled himself into the lobby of the hospital. He did admit to himself that he was somewhat curious about meeting Cuddy after the previous night. He hoped that their weird, but working relationship had not changed because of one strange night. He did not really expect Cuddy to be any different from before, but one could never be quite sure.

He found that it was a good thing he had had no expectations, as when he got in Cuddy was in full swing in the lobby. Somebody had got the bright idea to decorate the lobby with live plants and Cuddy was supervising the men bringing in and potting the blasted palm-trees and what not. That Cuddy was supervising was a clear indication that whoever the idiot behind the plants was, he had a big wad of money. Perfect! Hopefully he, whoever he was, was around to hear House voice his opinion of this particular decoration plan.

"Cuddy my dear, have you gone insane?" House greeted her politely, though loudly.

"House," Cuddy turned startled. "You are late, as usual. And no, I have not gone particularly insane, though no thanks to you. What are you talking about?"

"Plants in a hospital," House pointed out. "You do know that people are allergic to them, even if the plants themselves aren't poisonous. Besides they attract all sorts of insects and things, and are you sure that soil is not full of harmful microbes and fungi? I mean, Cuddy, you are a doctor, don't you have any consideration for the patients in this hospital? I'm sure I can smell mould or something in the air." House sniffed the air with deep suspicion.

"If you spent even a little more time outside you would recognise the normal smell of earth! And of course I have made sure that all the plants are non-poisonous. Just shut up and go to your office or whatever," Cuddy instructed him looking around a little apprehensively, which clued House in on the fact that the donor was indeed somewhere around. He smiled widely.

"Come on Cuddy, tell me what the real deal is," he invited. Cuddy sighed.

"One of our biggest donors has a wife," she started.

"Ah, say no more!" House concluded. "She has a gardening business?"

"No, she does interiors," Cuddy stated. "It is her younger brother who has just started a garden centre."

"I see; you are whoring for the hospital again," House nodded thoughtfully getting a look of deep indignation from Cuddy. "The husband donates enough dough and you let him do whatever he wants, including having his wife do some interior decorating where none is needed – or even advisable."

"Shut up House," Cuddy growled at him hands on hips. "It's just for a few weeks, by that time she has forgotten all about it, or I can tell her that the plants just didn't like their surroundings and died."

"Could you bend when you do that," House said indicating Cuddy's stance. "When I'm sitting in this chair my view is severely limited."

"No I am not bending for you!" Cuddy huffed. "You will just have to make do with the view you have."

"Fine, at least your ass is in perfect place once you will just turn around for me," House shrugged.

"I am so not turning my back to you after that," Cuddy informed him. "And don't you have better things to do with your time than sexually harass me? You do owe me several hours of clinic duty."

"Oh, I cannot work in this toxic air you have allowed to invade this area," House told her, and just then Aiko sneezed. "See, even Aiko agrees with me. I think my first duty is to take her to a healthier location." House wheeled himself quickly towards the lifts and out of the lobby.

---------------

When House wheeled himself into his office, he was still smiling at having avoided the clinic – at least for the time being, he didn't think even for a minute that Cuddy would let the matter rest. As soon as she had the lobby under control, she would come hunting for him! He placed Aiko in her crib, got out of his chair and went to his desk. Cameron had been there already as his mail was sorted. He was just about to go to the conference room to get his first coffee when his ducklings walked in; Cameron fortunately had his coffee with her.

"We have a patient," Foreman informed House.

"Like we did the last time?" House doubted taking his coffee from Cameron.

"A little more complicated, I think," Cameron said.

"He has seen a couple of doctors already, but the symptoms were too vague," Chase explained. "It is possible that it is something he picked up somewhere else. He is into extreme sports and has been pretty much on every continent just within last twelve months."

"Don't you just love globe-trotting," House griped. "In the old days they were happy if they could travel through one country in twelve months, now they just hop on a plane and in no time they have exposed themselves to a dozen deadly diseases, and then they bring them all back home, too. Tell me that at least he is in quarantine?"

"First thing we did when he was admitted," Chase confirmed.

"And I got as thorough a history from him as he could remember, including people he has been in contact with since his return," Cameron told House.

"So am I going to hear any of his symptoms or am I going to make the diagnosis based on his travel plans?" House invited.

"Didn't you do just that the last time we brought a case to you," Foreman responded, but went on immediately to give the symptoms. "He has a runny nose, a fever that has now lasted for a few weeks, night sweats, fatigue, general weakness, he has lost his appetite and the resulting weight loss has been significant. He originally assumed he had just a bad cold, but it went on for too long. His doctor found that his spleen is enlarged and there is some swelling in his lymph nodes. He has also had occasional nose bleeds. There is some hair loss, too, but I'm not sure if it is result of stress or a symptom. His skin is dry, almost scaly, but that could also be just exposure to the elements as his last trip was mountain climbing in Nepal."

"It could be something non-contagious, even unrelated to his travels," House shrugged. "Have you talked to Wilson about Hodgkin's disease, lymphoma or leukaemia?"

"His previous doctors have already ruled those out," Cameron pointed out.

"Since when have we trusted other doctors?" Chase flipped.

"Careful, Chase," House warned him. "If you sneer at her she may decide not to give you any tonight!"

Cameron looked at House shocked. Chase cursed in his mind, but he wasn't really surprised; there was no keeping any secrets from House, so he decided to just roll with the punches: "As she is currently having a **house** guest I was sort of assuming I was out in the cold anyway for now."

"Good thinking," House conceded. "However you should remember that women have long memories. But I'm still in the dark about our Wilson situation?"

"No, we have not consulted him, yet," Foreman told him. "I'll go do it now." He left the office a little huffily.

"Do that," House nodded at Foreman's retreating back. "And you two could go and check for tuberculosis, just to rule it out. There is no saying what he has picked up and where. It could also be a parasite. In fact, given that he was recently in Nepal, you might want to run tests for Kala Azar."

"Kala Azar?" Cameron asked.

"Leishmaniasis," House clarified. "They call it _black fever_ in India."

"I don't think I have seen any news of an epidemic of that in Nepal," Chase doubted. "Isn't it fairly rare anyway?"

"No, it's anything but rare," House corrected him. "It's just thoroughly ignored. Unlike TB it doesn't have good looking young doctors like Dr. Sebastian Charles dedicating themselves to its eradication." House gave an arch look to Cameron, who glared back at him. "It affects nearly two million people every year, so rare is not the word I would use for it – though since the countries most affected by it are Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Nepal, and Sudan, it is hardly surprising it does not get reported. If it's not in our backyard, we rarely care. Yeah, you know, I'm liking it better and better for our guy!"

"Ok, fine, we'll run the test," Cameron huffed, still smarting from House's glib remark about Chase and the reminder of Dr. Charles. "And while we work, what are you going to do? Visit the patient?"

"No," House smiled. "I'm having a nap. You know how it is with new fathers; you have to get your sleep when you can between the bottles and nappies and bouts of colic."

"Aiko has colic?" Cameron was all concern immediately.

"Yes, she had colic last night," House repeated with exaggerated patience. "But I am handling that. You, however have a patient to handle. Go do it so that I can have my nap."

"Fine!" Cameron snapped. "Come on Chase, I can do the tuberculosis test and you can run the Montenegro and CBC."

--------------------------

At the end of the day House's diagnosis had been proven correct: it was Kala Azar. The patient was put on Sodium stibogluconate injections for thirty days. Not a fun treatment, especially as it was possible that it would not work, since India and Nepal had a version of Kala Azar that was resistant to the treatment, and even if it worked it could have some very unpleasant side effects. But House did not think it was really his problem anymore; he had diagnosed the patient, the treatment was up to others.

He was on his way back to his office having escorted his mother to where his father was waiting outside in their car. Blythe had spent most of the day with Aiko again, though she had gone to lunch with John. House was happy that he hadn't seen his father that day except to exchange short greetings – it seemed that Blythe had decided to keep her men apart for now. House knew that was not going to be a permanent state of affairs; for one Blythe had already told him that they were going to have Sunday lunch together. Fortunately Wilson was also invited, so he might get away with only some general conversation with his father.

House was leaning against the wall of the lift when the doors opened and Cuddy got in. They were alone for the first time that day. Cuddy stood silently with her back to him, and something in her stance looked a little uncomfortable.

"So now you are presenting me with your back, when I'm no longer at the perfect level to admire your ass," House complained to her.

"Serves you right," Cuddy threw at him over her shoulder. "If Mrs. Smythe had heard you, she might have told her husband that we don't appreciate her work and he could have changed his mind about his donation."

"So what," House shrugged. "Who needs plants?"

"The plants were not part of the donation," Cuddy explained. "They were a completely separate issue, paid separately." Cuddy still would not turn to really look at House. House contemplated her ass for a moment and decided then to tackle the real issue that was bothering Cuddy.

"In case you were wondering about A. Nonymous," House said conversationally. "The patient is comatose."

Cuddy gave a small cough, that House was sure was designed to hide a laugh: "Does it seem like a permanent condition?" She asked sounding a little strained.

"Well, he has been that way before," House replied with utter seriousness. "But some tender, loving care has often helped."

"Do you think there is a chance of such care being extended?" Cuddy wondered neutrally.

"I don't think I should count on it," House mused. "On the other hand, it depends on circumstances."

Cuddy didn't say anything for a moment. Then she suddenly hit the stop-button and halted the lift between floors. She turned to House looking him in the eyes for the first time since stepping in.

"House," she seemed to be looking for the right words. "I don't regret what happened. I'm a bit confused at my own impulsiveness, since that is not normal to me, but you were right. I cannot let fear dictate my choices and I'm very ok with the choice I made last night. But there is still an element of weird here."

"Sure there is," House agreed. "But we have always been a little weird about each other. You are pretty much my favourite person to fight with; yet you are also a friend. I don't think last night brought too much new weirdness to our relationship – or what would you call this we have."

"So we are ok," Cuddy said. It was not a question but a statement. "After all, this is not even close as big a change than you becoming a Father is. Come Monday, I probably won't feel awkward at all."

"Hey, you adjusted just fine to me sticking all those needles in your ass," House pointed out. "This ought to be no biggie after that."

"The biggest hurdle there was getting up the nerve to ask you," Cuddy remembered. "You are right; this is easy compared to that."

"So, you'll tell me if it took?" House asked.

"If things go the way they usually go with you, it's probably you who will tell me," Cuddy grumbled hitting the buttons to make the lift move again.

"Why don't we agree that the one who knows first will tell the other?" House smiled at her.

"Fine. But don't get your hopes up; the likelihood of success is not very big," Cuddy warned him.

"Well, we'll try again then," House shrugged and leered at Cuddy.

"If I can get my nerve up to it," she muttered almost inaudibly. Fortunately they reached her floor and she was able to step out of the lift leaving House to leer alone.


	15. Sunday

On Sunday around noon, House heard a knock on his door. He wasn't expecting anyone, but he thought it was probably Wilson come to keep him company till it was time to leave to have lunch with Blythe and John at their hotel. He was wrong. It was Cuddy again.

"Cuddy?" House greeted her. "Didn't we agree that I will bring Aiko to you to watch while I have lunch with my parents?"

"Yes we did," Cuddy nodded. "But I thought you might want to ride your bike, as it has been some time since you were able to do that."

"Thanks," House said a little uncertainly. "But I do need to get her home afterwards, too."

"I can drive her," Cuddy shrugged. "You don't even need to come by at all, unless you want to. Just call me when you get home and I'll bring her."

"I see," House narrowed his eyes at her. "This is not so much a friend helping a friend as a kidnapping attempt! You want more time with her."

"Guilty," Cuddy admitted immediately. "And as Kasumii will be there, too, you really have nothing to worry about, though I'm not as experienced as you are."

"Experience," House scoffed leading the way to the kitchen. "You could not be much less experienced than I. Coffee?" He offered and at Cuddy's nod poured some in two mugs.

"You may have only a couple of week's worth of experience," Cuddy agreed. "But you cannot tell me that you haven't done all the research on the subject of parenting and childcare that is possible."

"Research is one thing, putting it in practise is something else," House pointed out taking Cuddy back into the living room.

"I agree there," Cuddy conceded. "But trying to do something from a basis of knowledge is still easier than just fumbling in the dark. And you have always excelled in putting things into practise."

"I don't particularly feel like I'm excelling in anything currently," House sighed as he pushed some papers out of the way to make room for their mugs on the table. They sank down on the couch. For a fleeting moment House felt almost like it really had been Wilson who had come over, but after a brief glance to his side he came to the conclusion that if Wilson had breasts like that, then he, House, would definitely try his _hand_ at being gay.

Unaware of House's musings Cuddy took a closer look at the papers scattered on the table: "These look like bank statements, financial plans, insurance papers and such!" She said surprised.

"I know," House sighed. "I'm trying to get things together for a session with my bank manager. I need a financial plan if I'm going to take proper care of Aiko. We need a house for one."

"And a college fund, I suspect," Cuddy added.

"No, that has been taken care of," House told her. "Aiko's parents left her with some money and, most importantly, a house in Japan. They owned the land too, not just the house, so it will be a nice nest-egg for her if she decides to sell. Even without selling, she has enough to see her through college, no matter where she chooses to attend. But I still need to plan for our living expenses, for the house and an emergency fund, in case you get another Vogler in the hospital board and have to fire me."

"I think I learned my lesson with one Vogler," Cuddy sighed. "But don't you need to have a plan for Aiko's inheritance, too?"

"No, her grandfather is taking care of that," House told her. "As of the house which is currently being rented out."

"You never did tell how you really ended up being Aiko's guardian," Cuddy asked. "I know you said that her grandfather was an old friend and he wanted to give Aiko a better future than she could have in Japan with her background, but it is still a huge thing to ask of you. What did he do? Save your life or something?"

"Aiko's grandfather, you mean?" House checked. "No, no saving of lives or anything there. Not exactly. He was my teacher, but it was not just medicine he taught me. He took me to live in his home and I was like a member of his family for a year, a second son to his wife an older brother to his five year old son. For a year, I had a father." The last sentence House almost whispered. Cuddy did not dare say anything. She had a dozen questions in her mind, but something about House didn't allow questions – but then that was normal. After a short silence House went on: "When he called me and told me what had happened to his son, there was no question but that I would go back and do what ever he wanted me to do. So when he handed Aiko to me, I didn't even consider refusing. She is a sacred trust and I **will** be worthy of her."

"I see," Cuddy lied. Though she did have an idea of how important Aiko was to House.

"Well, you didn't come here to hear sob stories from me," House shrugged. "Aiko has been fed and changed and she should sleep for another half an hour at least, so why don't we go and put her car seat in your car?"

"No need," Cuddy said. "I have a seat for her installed in my car. I got it yesterday."

"Really?" House wondered. "You could have used mine. It's not that hard to install."

"I know," Cuddy agreed. "But I'm sort of expecting to get more use out of this one than just transporting Aiko." House looked at her questioningly and she went on: "I have decided that even if Thursday didn't take, I'm not giving up yet. I want a child, and I will not let fear and disappointment stop me from trying. Not until I really have to. I don't quite know yet what I will do if I'm not pregnant now, but somehow I will try again."

"Good for you," House told her.

"That's it? No advice?" Cuddy asked.

"Nope, not anymore," House said. "Sure the offer is still open if you want my help, but the main advice I had for you was not to let fear dictate your choices and you are following that one, so I have nothing more to say."

"Ok," Cuddy nodded. "Fine."

"There is one thing I want to say," House turned to her. She smiled like _hah, I knew he would want to give more advice!_ "Cuddy, I don't care how you end up getting pregnant; I don't care who is the father of your child. But I do want you to know that I will be there to help you if you want." Cuddy stared at him with wide eyes. This was the last thing she had expected to hear from him. "You have promised to be there for Aiko, I think the least I can do is to promise to return the favour. If you need."

"Thank you," Cuddy said simply. "That means a lot to me."

"If nothing else, we can definitely share a Nanny," House said draining his coffee. "I'll get Aiko ready; you finish your coffee in peace." He stood up and went into the bedroom to get Aiko.

-------

House parked his bike at the parking lot of his parent's hotel. He sat there for a moment gathering the strength he needed to face his father. With a deep sigh he got his cane and faced the hotel entrance. No point in wishing he didn't have to go inside, his mother was there and she would worry if he turned tail and run. Besides, he was a grown man, if he hadn't run as a child, why do it now.

He limped inside on the agreed time, pretty much on the dot. The first thing he did was check that Wilson was already there; fortunately he was. House made his way to the table where the others were sitting and greeted his mother with a kiss and the men with a nod.

"Sorry I cut it a bit close," House said to his mother. "It has been such a long time since I used my bike that it wouldn't start immediately."

"You came on your bike?" Wilson exclaimed.

"I thought you were going to drop Aiko at Lisa's," Blythe asked.

"I was," House confirmed as he took his seat. "But Cuddy came over to get Aiko. She wanted more time with her and I thought it was a good idea as Aiko needs to get familiar with her and her house anyway."

"So you are already shunting her to someone else to watch," John noted. "Getting tired of being a parent?"

"Considering that you have never been an everyday parent, I don't think I need to respond to your comments," House responded curtly.

"Since Lisa is Aiko's alternative guardian if something happens to Greg, I think it is a good idea she has some alone-time with her," Blythe intervened. "Besides, what is the difference it she has Aiko for a couple of hours longer than we originally thought?"

"So Cuddy is in speaking terms with you," Wilson tried to change the subject. "I heard she was ready to do you some bodily harm after your comments on the lobby."

"Come on Wilson," House laughed. "You are not telling me you think the jungle is a good idea!"

"Not if you take it in isolation," Wilson conceded. "But if it comes with a lot of money for the hospital, I think we can put up with it for a short time. As Cuddy said, we can get rid of it in time – or even replace it with artificial plants."

"Why don't you like the _jungle_ as you call it?" Blythe asked House.

"People are allergic to plants and they are also organic which means they attract insects and other things that people can again be allergic to," House explained. "Given that most of the people who come to us are sick, unnecessary hazards are not a good idea."

Before the conversation really got started their waiter came over to take their orders and after that they managed to have a pleasant lunch where Blythe and Wilson mostly carried the conversation with some brief and general comments from House and John. As the lunch was over Wilson engaged John in conversation for a time giving Blythe and House a moment alone.

"Don't listen to your father," Blythe told her son. "I have seen you with Aiko, you are a wonderful parent to her."

"Wonderful is stretching it quite a bit," House smiled at her. "But I really am doing my best."

"Nobody can ask for more," Blythe kissed him on the cheek. House didn't say anything, but he had his doubts, especially as he took his leave from his father – who thought that he, too, had done his best with his child. House could not have disagreed more.

---------------

Late that night House was sitting on his bed watching Aiko sleep. Luckily she was sleeping quietly; no colic tonight. Tomorrow, again, might be a different story, but that was tomorrow's worry. All he could hope for was that Aiko didn't have to suffer from the problem often and for long. He and Aiko's grandfather had chosen a hypo allergenic formula, once Aiko had to give up breast-milk, in the hope that it would help her avoid colic. Not that they had expected to avoid it completely, but every little thing had to be tried. Sure, some doctors said that crying helped develop a baby's lungs, but House was of the opinion that normal breathing did it just fine.

Cuddy had been a little sad to let go off Aiko when she brought her back. House, on the other hand, had already missed her. Funny how soon Aiko had made her dependency such an important part of his life. House turned his mind to Cuddy. He was not sure what had made him make his offer to Cuddy. It was a genuine offer, he did not regret it, but he was not completely sure of his motives. Did he really just want to help a friend? Was he just feeling guilty for having a child, though he had never planned for one, when Cuddy had lost hers? Or was he possibly trying to tie Cuddy to him with closer ties in order to ensure that there would be someone to watch over Aiko, to make sure he did not fail with her. Or that if he failed, there would be someone who could make it better. Was he really being a friend to Cuddy, or was he using her in some strange and twisted way? He hoped not. Chances were that once he knew the results of their _experiment_, his reaction might tell him what his motives had been.

Anyway, he was not going to be any the wiser before morning, especially if he didn't get some sleep. That was funny thing, too, he noted. Ever since Aiko had come to his life, the few hours between feedings and diaper duty, he slept pretty well. His leg didn't bother him nearly as much as it used to. He attributed it to having his mind occupied so thoroughly with Aiko's wellbeing. It was the same phenomena that helped him focus on his cases. Concentrating on something else, took his mind of his pain and it dulled the signals that reached his brain. Whatever the reason, he was grateful for it. And he was also going to take the advantage of it for as long as it lasted.


	16. Endorphins

House was supposed to get his _colonial ass_ to the physical therapy on Tuesday. Or that was the original plan. Tuesday morning they got a case and House cancelled. Or tried to. David decided that if House was not going to come to him, he would go to House. In fact, he had wanted to see House's office anyway and assess what in his working environment might need changing to help managing the pain. Naturally, he didn't mind that hanging in House's office for a day was also brining him in contact with House's Nanny.

So there he was, sitting at the table with House's ducklings watching House work the whiteboard. Kasumii – or Ms. Tanaka, as House insisted all but he called her – was in House's office with Aiko. At his arrival David had tried House's door first, to find that it was locked. Once he made his way to the conference room, he found that House now kept his door locked almost all the time when Aiko was there – just to be sure. Not that he was expecting kidnappers or anything like that, but he just wanted to know who went near his daughter. Of course, this also meant that nobody got to Ms. Tanaka without House knowing about it. David had to resign himself to not having any private time with the object of his interest. On the other hand, it was probably just as good: after all he was supposed to be there to help House not to "nap" his Nanny. That he had better do on his free time.

David watched House write the symptoms of the patient on the board: occasional high fever, cough, weight loss, chills, other flu like symptoms, vomiting, rash. Once the symptoms were up he invited opinions on the possible causes. Words like tuberculosis, whooping cough, allergic reactions, brucellosis, where thrown in and out in rapid succession. David was quite fascinated at the process, but most of it went over his head. Not so that the words themselves were unknown to him, he was a healthcare professional after all, and he had always been interested in reading about all things that might affect his work, even if the connection to physical therapy was only slight. But reading about different illnesses and conditions on the net or on magazines meant for laymen was much different from actually understanding how to read the symptoms – especially without actually seeing the patient. Also it was quite obvious – even for one who didn't know much about the subject – that House was in a class of his own here. His fellows were all top professionals, they were quick, thorough even intuitive, but they came nowhere near House in brilliance.

Once House had sent his minions off to take tests and search the patient's home and place of work for possible environmental causes he went back to his own office, David close at his heels. Aiko was awake, and the moment she heard House's voice, she started to move and make little noises. David estimated her to be about three weeks old, not four yet, she was lively – as much as a three-week-old baby could be, apparently happy and – this last one made David smile – apparently loved. As soon as House got to his office he went to Aiko and as she was awake he sat in his wheelchair and took her in his arms. All that happened with such natural flow that it was apparent that it was very much a routine thing. And they both liked it. Kasumii gave David a resigned shrug as he caught her eye. House saw their look.

"I know," House said a little defensively. "Why hire a Nanny if I don't intend to let her do her work. Don't worry, Kasumii will earn her wages soon enough, once we work her into our routines. I don't believe in buying a dog and then barking myself!" That sentence earned him a look from Kasumii that – even on this, her second day at work – looked well-honed. "But we haven't really worked out a proper routine for ourselves even, so it will take a little time. After all, we did return from Japan only a little over a week ago."

"Japan?" David questioned. "You didn't mention that when you said you had a daughter."

"Are you telling me that you haven't heard anything about my daughter through the hospital grapevine?" House wondered.

"Sure, but I tend to discount most of it." David said. "And most stories about you tend to be rather unbelievable. Mostly, I suspect, because you keep your private life private – and all those who might know what is going on, don't talk either."

"Well, Aiko is Japanese," House gave a brief explanation. "I was a friend of her family, so I sort of inherited her when her parents died in an accident. The reason I insisted on finding a Nanny who can speak Japanese is that I want Aiko to learn as much of the language and culture of her parents' country as possible. She may want to live there, one day, after all."

"You spend a lot of time with her, hold her often," David asked, his eyes though were following Kasumii who went to the next room to get Aiko's bottle ready.

"No, can't say that I hold Kasumii that often," House dead-panned.

"As you know perfectly well, I was talking about Aiko," David smiled.

"Yeah," House agreed. "I'm all she has."

"How has your leg been during this time you've had Aiko," David wanted to know. "As compared to before, I mean?"

"It has been better," House told him. "I'm assuming it's because my mind is occupied; in similar way as when I try to solve medical puzzles."

"I don't think I need to give you my normal lecture on endorphins?" David assumed.

"I'm not a cutter," House pointed out.

"I know," David said. "I assumed that those cut marks I saw were results of something you did during the problems you had with Officer Tritter. Presumably his interference made it difficult for you to get Vicodin." House nodded. "No, that was not what I meant. But as you know – or at least you should know – pain is not the only catalyst for endorphins."

"I know," House wiggled his eyebrows. "There is also pleasure."

"Absolutely, but until they find a safe way to artificially stimulate the pleasure centre in the brain, you have to rely on other, possibly less controllable, ways of getting your endorphins," David knew he was getting a little personal here, but he wasn't going to back down. Fortunately Kasumii had read the situation and remained in the other room, leaving the men to talk. Aiko, of course, didn't care what they spoke about as long as she could stay in House's arms. "One way to get your endorphins flowing is to fall in love."

"I don't think I'm familiar with that word," House cautioned him.

"Don't worry, I'm not going sappy on you," David reassured House. "What I'm talking about is plain biology. Children evoke feelings of tenderness in all, not just their parents. The feelings get rewarded by a dose of endorphin and the human animal learns that taking care of the children is a good thing. It's a simple strategy to insure the survival of the species. And that is what is happening to you. You love your daughter, and that love is rewarded with heightened levels of natural painkillers. That is why you are feeling better. And solving medical puzzles is probably a pleasurable activity for you, too, so that also brings up your endorphin levels and reduces your pain."

House pondered on his words for a moment, watching Aiko's face and feeling her warm, trusting body rest against him. He didn't trust emotions, he did his best to avoid them, but even if he didn't like the idea of other people being privy to his feelings, he had to admit that the only word to describe his feelings for Aiko was love. Of course, it was nice to know that it was just a _biological imperative._ Not his fault at all. "Yeah, there may be something in what you are saying," House admitted grudgingly. "Does that mean then that I don't need other painkillers? Or that physical therapy is unnecessary?"

"Oh, no," David shook his head. "We definitely need to get your pain management regime in place or Aiko's first day in day-care will be very painful for you. And her first day in school would probably be real hell, plus I don't even want to think what her leaving home for college would do to you."

"Fascinating as this excursion into my emotional life is," House laced his voice heavily with sarcasm. "We have to put it on hold, Aiko needs her bottle."

"I can get it," David was on his feet immediately.

"Seems like you don't need to worry about your endorphin levels either, for a while," House observed.

"What can I say," David replied easily. "She is incredibly beautiful, she likes children; what more could a man possibly want?"

"She can also beat you in a fight," House informed him.

"A woman who can stand up for herself; I like that." David appreciated on his way to the other room. He didn't go in, since as soon as he opened the door Kasumii walked back into the office with the desired bottle. "How?" David didn't get any further with his question.

"Aiko has very regular habits," Kasumii told him. "There is only so long she will wait for her bottle."

"And what happens if she doesn't get it? She cries the _House_ down?" David quipped.

"We have no idea," Kasumii said sternly. "We make sure she does not have to wait for her bottle."

"And in case you didn't interpret that statement correctly," House laughed from the sideline. "That was a _we are not amused_ kind of we."

"Oh, I got it," David nodded. "Very Queen Victoria."

"If you are quite done with your bantering ..." Kasumii left the sentence to hang and handed the bottle she was holding pointedly to House, who immediately gave it to Aiko who frowned at him a little, as if to say _what took you so long!_

"Thank you, Kasumii-chan," House said to her. And there it was again, that look from her.

"You are welcome, _**ojii**-san_," she replied with stressed politeness, even giving House a little bow.

"What was that?" David asked puzzled. He knew there was some kind of mock-battle going on there, but what?

"Nothing," House shrugged feigning ignorance. But he was smirking.

"I'm not ten!" Kasumii explained with a slight huff.

"But she is an infant," House laughed. Kasumii just shook her head at him in exasperation.

"If I'm to meet my Mother as agreed, I better leave now," Kasumii decided to withdraw from the battlefield – for now. David had a feeling that this would be an ongoing thing for as long as she would work for House. In a way he was glad, since it seemed to indicate that House was seeing Kasumii almost as a second daughter, or at least a niece, and not as a potential romantic interest. Though he did have to wonder at House's taste in women if he was really so unaffected by Kasumii's beauty.

"It's not that I don't notice her ass," House startled David by saying – as soon as Kasumii had gone. "It's just that I notice her age more. I'm not into infants."

"Oh," David didn't know what else to say. He hadn't thought his question had been written on his face so clearly. "Well, I think we better return to that talk about your pain management programme. Have you been doing the exercises I recommended?"

"Yes," House said. "They are simple enough and they also seem to be working. Though after your lecture on endorphins, I'm not sure how much."

"Endorphins help with pain, not cramps," David reminded him. "We might look into some relaxation techniques as well, though nothing like the ones Layton had planned."

"You don't sound very impressed with him," House observed.

"Don't get me wrong, Layton is a good enough boss and he is a good therapist," David explained. "He keeps up to date with new therapies and theories. The problem I have with him is that he really doesn't know how to match patients with the therapies he recommends. You being a case in point: only an idiot would have chosen Helen for you."

"So what were the idiotic relaxation methods he thought to use on me?" House asked.

"Floating in salt water in a darkened room with aromatherapy candles and new-age music," David told him.

"You have got to be kidding me!" House was appalled.

"Nope," David denied. "And we may indeed try the water – it works for some people when they first start to learn consciously relaxing their muscles – but if there is music, you bring your own."

"I definitely will if we do that," House stated. He checked Aiko and saw that she was done with her bottle. He lifted her up to burb her gently and then he took her to her crib to sleep. "She should be out of it for couple of hours now."

"Good," David nodded. "Let me have a look at your leg and then I can teach you a couple of new moves; just for variety. I also have a preliminary plan for your regime. We'll go through that too, if there is time and your patient doesn't need you."

"Works for me," House agreed, and they got to work.


	17. Family matters

_Thank you for the reviews again! Good thing it's weekend again and I can get back to my addiction without work getting in the way :)_

_The legal stuff in this chapter comes pretty much from my imagination. I did some research on the net, but only enough to make it sound sort of plausible, so please – like with the medical stuff – just suspend your disbelief and go with it; it **is** just fiction!_ ;)

--------

Though they had gone through the plan for House's pain management regime, David chose to stay in the diagnostics for the rest of the day as well. Not that he expected to get much of a chance to approach Kasumii – not with House watching – but he still wanted to assess the ergonomic conditions in House's office. Besides he was fascinated at the way House worked.

House and his troopers were still trying to find out what was wrong with their patient. They had not found any clear environmental causes, but that did not mean that there were none, just that whatever it was might need only one-time exposure. They had added red eyes and abdominal pain on the list on the whiteboard. There were other things written there – presumably information from the tests they had done, but those went completely over David's head; haemoglobin was pretty much the only thing about blood he knew anything about: too low and you were in trouble.

House was trying to come up with a diagnosis, or even something that could tell them what to test for next but he was somewhat distracted. Aiko was crying in the office. She had been crying for ten minutes or so. Though the blinds between the rooms were half-closed they could see Kasumii walking the floor with Aiko in her arms. It seemed that nothing she had done so far helped. David suspected that Aiko's problem could be colic.

"Doesn't she have a pacifier?" Chase asked neutrally. "Isn't that supposed to help?"

"Yes," House nearly snapped at him even so. "She has a _pacifier_." House took his cane from the board where it had been hanging and limped to the other room – shutting the blinds on his way.

Foreman gave an arch look to his two co-workers and said: "I told you this father thing would wear thin sooner or later."

"If you think he went there to yell at Ms. Tanaka to keep Aiko quiet, I think you are totally wrong," Cameron insisted.

Before Foreman could respond – or Chase could chip in with his two cents – Aiko stopped crying. A little later the door opened and House wheeled in. He was in his wheelchair and Aiko was wrapped against his chest.

"Ah," David understood. "I see. She does indeed have a pacifier: you."

"Three weeks old and spoiled rotten," House grumbled. "She doesn't like pacifiers, just spits them out as soon as you try." He looked down at Aiko who was gazing at him with her dark eyes. "And don't you think that trying to smile at me is going to _pacify_ me."

"She is smiling?" Cameron got up immediately to see.

"No," House denied. "She hasn't quite got the hang of it yet. But she is mighty pleased with herself. I can tell."

"You mean she just wanted you?" Foreman wondered.

"I think she was more just protesting against the changes in her routine that Kasumii's presence has brought about," House sighed. "It will be ok in time. It's not like she needs to adjust to any more big changes now."

House wheeled himself to the board, but remembered that he couldn't reach so he continued his journey to sit in front of the desk. He handed the marker to Cameron: "You run the board."

Before Cameron got there though, the door opened and without any warning (as the blinds were closed obscuring the view to the corridor) Officer Tritter walked in. For some reason he seemed very pleased with himself once again. Everyone in the room turned to look at him in icy silence – even David knew him by sight, and having now met House, was more than ready to dislike the Officer who had started the senseless witch hunt.

"And to what do we owe your unpleasant presence this time?" House asked.

"You!" Tritter seemed to gloat. "It seems you just cannot keep to the straight and narrow. Though I have to say kidnapping is rather rich even for you." Dead silence fell into the room. "I have come to return this child to her family."

House's eyes started to shoot flames, and had Tritter had any idea of the beast he had just poked he would have run for his life. Without any conscious volition Foreman and Chase found themselves standing on both sides of House, a little to the front of him. Their body language was clear: you come for Aiko, you come through us. David found himself moving to the door. He looked through the blinds and saw a woman officer and a young, Japanese man in a suit standing in the corridor. He locked the door with his heel and stood then leaning on the door. Kasumii moved to stand in front of House, even further to the front than Chase and Foreman, but she made sure she did not block House's view of Tritter. Cameron went to stand behind House, resting her hand on House's cane that was again on its holder at the back of the chair.

"It seems you have trained your minions well," Tritter sneered.

"Indeed," House nodded. "I would take it into consideration if I were you."

"Look, this is not something you can get away with," Tritter insisted. "Just hand over the child and maybe her family will not press charges. I have her uncle with me, I'm sure you can come to some agreement. You would not want to risk your medical license for something like this. I mean, what the Hell would you want with a child anyway?"

"That, I believe, is none of your business," House told him with nonchalance. "However, you can't really expect me to just hand over my daughter to you without you showing me what gives you the right to try and get her. After all, as I well know the only family my daughter has is me and her paternal grandfather, who is in almost daily contact with me, so your talk about giving Aiko back to her family is somewhat puzzling. Are you sure you have the right child? I mean, we both know that you have trouble finding your own ass with both your hands."

Tritter lost his smile. He stepped towards House, but Kasumii got in his way. "Don't mess with me little girl," Tritter said putting both his hands on Kasumii's shoulders intending to move her out of the way. Before he well knew what had happened he found himself flat on his back on the floor.

"I am not a little girl!" Kasumii told him vehemently.

"Did I forget to mention that she has 4th dan black belt in Aikido?" House asked politely.

"The taller they are the harder they fall," David admired from his vantage point.

Tritter took a moment to catch his breath. "You are in trouble now," he gasped. "You are resisting a police officer!"

"Really?" House wondered. "All I saw was self-defence. You attacked her first."

"She was obstructing me in my duties!" Tritter yelled getting up. "You all witnessed it."

"I thought it was self-defence," Foreman shrugged.

"As clear a case as I've ever seen," Chase agreed.

"Are you all crazy?" Tritter stared at them in frustration.

"No," David mused. "I think we are very wise; like the three wise monkeys you know: we hear nothing, we see nothing and we most definitely will speak nothing."

"I can just about understand him conning you all into covering for him on his drug habit," Tritter was shaking his head. "But this is kidnapping! You can't, none of you can possibly think he is fit to have a child in his care."

"Well, you are naturally entitled to your opinion," House sneered at Tritter. "But so far you have shown us no evidence of either kidnapping or anything showing on what authority you want to take my child away from me. So why don't you make this easier on us all and, contrary to your normal custom, explain what is your authority here."

"I told you already," Tritter said. "The girl's uncle is here to take her home. He has a document authorising him to do that."

"Fine," House didn't look very convinced. "Just show me this document then."

"It's in Japanese," Tritter sneered.

"Well I'm willing to trust you enough, just this once, to accept your translation," House shrugged.

"I don't speak Japanese," Tritter had to admit.

"Well, then surely you have a certified translation of this document?" House asked innocently.

"The uncle is fluent in English, he did the translating," Tritter ground through his teeth.

"Really!" House was impressed (NOT!). "In that case I'm sure he will be happy to do it again. You did say you had him with you?"

"He is in the corridor with a WPC," David told House. "Sorry, I meant a woman cop."

"Why don't you invite them in," House suggested brightly.

"Ok," David nodded. "Just one thing before I do so, if there is any need for roughhousing once we have real witnesses in this room, you better leave it all to me."

"Do you think I can't handle them?" Kasumii asked, speaking for the first time. She, like the others in the room had been totally fascinated by the battle going on between House and Tritter.

"No, nothing of the sort," David assured her. "I think you would probably fare much better with them than I, but you see self-defence goes only so far. But with me, well, my mother is a diplomat."

"Ah," House was enlightened. "Diplomatic immunity! It's a beautiful thing."

"I always thought so," David agreed opening the door and beckoning the two people in the corridor to come in. Once they had entered he closed the door again – again locking it.

House turned his gaze on the young man. The woman officer, Officer Martin according to her badge, seemed to sense things hadn't gone quite as expected, because she stepped a little away from everyone, to the side to observe the proceedings from a vantage point. House gave her a brief look, a nod and then he got back to the man. "So Kanaye," House said unceremoniously, and impolitely. "Officer Tritter tells me you have a document that you'd like to show me?" He held out his hand.

"You know Mr. Yamamoto," Tritter asked.

"I know who he is," House admitted. "I have not met him before. The document please?"

"I have already shown it to him," Kanaye said nodding towards Tritter. "Why do you need to see it?"

"Because I don't believe that it gives you any right to even touch my daughter, let alone take her with you," House explained.

"Officer Tritter was ok with it," Kanaye kept prevaricating.

"But Officer Tritter is a more trusting soul than I," House was deliberately talking down to Kanaye, like he was a ten-year-old. And his voice did not have any of the teasing in it as it had when he was talking to Kasumii. "I admit I am surprised at officer Tritter. I would have thought a man of his age and profession would have learned by now that everybody lies!" That statement made Foreman press his hand on his mouth and hide a laugh with a cough. Tritter's look ought to have put House six feet under in ten seconds. House didn't pay attention to them. "So show me the document. Now."

"I think you should do that," Officer Martin told Kanaye. "He has the right to see it, and your procrastination is giving the impression that there is something fishy about it."

"I don't know what he thinks he can get out of it," Tritter finally told the younger man. "I already told him it's in Japanese, but you better give it to him anyway."

Kanaye took an official looking envelope from his briefcase and handed it to House. House opened it, glanced through it – and laughed out loud. Everyone stared at him like he had lost his mind. He also woke Aiko, who had fallen asleep in her nest. She protested a little at being disturbed so suddenly, but House rubbed her back comfortingly and whispered to her a few words and she calmed down in no time. Tritter looked surprised.

"So what is so amusing about that document then?" Cameron asked from behind House.

"Yamamoto-_chan_ has a note from his mommy and daddy saying that he can come and get Aiko," House sneered.

"I am not ten!" Kanaye exclaimed indignantly. He had let House's previous use of his first name go, assuming that House just hadn't known how impolite he was, but when he used _chan_ – a form of address reserved for children under the age of ten – he realised that House knew exactly what he was doing. He also realised that House spoke – and read – Japanese.

"You are trying to kidnap my child," House told him with contempt. "I will call you what I bloody well choose!"

"You read Japanese, sir?" Officer Martin asked. When House nodded she continued: "Would you mind telling me what is in that paper? Officer Tritter just asked me to come along, as there was a child involved, I wasn't given any details."

"It is true that this letter is notarized, but all it says is that Mr. and Mrs. Yamamoto authorise their son to bring one Aiko Higa back to Japan. The problem here is that though the Yamamotos can certainly tell their son to do whatever they want, they have absolutely no authority over Aiko." House explained. "The only family Aiko has left is her grandfather and me and as her legal guardian I am the only person alive who has any authority over her."

"I'm presuming you have legal papers to prove that?" Officer Martin asked House – Tritter seemed to be unable to speak as he was apparently choking on something.

"Dr. Cameron, would you get a red folder from my desk. It has Aiko's name on it in Japanese," House instructed Cameron. She didn't take long to find the folder. House took it and spread the contents on the table. "Here we have witnessed copies and witnessed copies of certified translations of all the documents concerning Aiko. Here is her parent's will, where they name her guardians: her grandfather Dr. Higa and me, Dr. Gregory House. Here is a document where Dr. Higa gives up his guardianship making me the sole guardian of his granddaughter. Here we have the documents from the Japanese courts that have ruled these documents valid and have confirmed my guardianship. Here are the documents of the emergency ruling that allows me to take Aiko out of Japan; here are the papers that allow her to enter this country; here are the papers concerning her adoption – which is only in its preliminary stages, and it is possible they will refuse my petition. That, however, will not change my position as her legal guardian she will merely be my ward instead of my daughter – that is legally speaking." House looked up from the papers and saw that Kanaye was trying to move towards the door. "David, I trust you will keep Yamamoto from leaving?"

"Of course," David responded smiling lethally at Kanaye. "I'll make sure nobody leaves this room before we have everything sorted out."

"Thank you," House returned to the papers. "And here we have another document from the Yamamotos. This one, unlike the one we saw earlier today, is completely legal. With this document the Yamamotos disown their daughter Noriko. When Aiko's mother got the document it was accompanied with this letter, where her parents tell her that now that she has chosen to attach herself to _filth_ they no longer consider her to be their daughter and therefore they will never again have anything to do with her, or her possible offspring."

"Well, I'm no lawyer," Officer Martin said. "But it would seem that you have a much more convincing case than young Mr. Yamamoto here has. Officer Tritter?"

"I would be happier to see some documents from our courts there, too," Tritter muttered.

"Well, if you insist, I can get them," House sniped. "But they are currently being translated into Japanese so that I can send copies to the Japanese courts."

"I think we are done here," Officer Martin concluded. "Sorry for the trouble."

"Oh, you were no trouble at all," House smiled. "However, Yamamoto here, is a different story." House turned to the young man. "I appreciate that you are just an errand boy for your parents, so I'm giving you 24 hours to get out of the country. When that time is up, I'm filing charges of attempted kidnapping against you and your parents. And Tritter, you better have a word with your bosses as well, because I'm including you in that charge."

"Isn't that a little harsh?" Officer Martin asked. "I'm talking about Mr. Yamamoto, Officer Tritter can certainly look after himself." She didn't seem too enamoured with her fellow officer.

"No, not really," House looked at Kanaye with contempt in his eyes. "Your parents never meant to give Aiko a home with them, did they?" Kanaye refused to answer but he also lowered his gaze to the floor uncomfortably. "You see, they thing Aiko is _filthy_. Their only concern was to make sure Aiko would be raised with proper awareness of her unworthiness. To make sure she would never dare darken their doorstep. Isn't that right Kanaye?" It took a while, but finally Kanaye could not stand House's stare – it was like those blue eyes were cutting him to his bones, revealing everything about him – he nodded.

"They have chosen a suitable family who would have taken care of the child," Kanaye muttered.

"Right," Officer Martin said. "I have heard enough. Dr. House, if you need my statement when you file the charges just let me know. Officer Tritter, we are leaving now."

David opened the door and stood aside letting the visitors leave. Kanaye left first, in a hurry. Tritter stopped at the door, turning to look at House. "It seems I may have been wrong," he nearly choked on his words.

"You rather seem to be making a habit of it," House observed. "Don't you think you ought to find out why your judgement tends to let you down so much lately?"

Tritter didn't answer, he just left. Once he was outside, Officer Martin turned to go, too. At the door she decided to turn back as well. She looked around the room, at the people who had immediately and instinctively got up to protect the baby again sleeping in House's arms.

"You said that your daughter has no other family but you and her grandfather," Martin smiled. "I think you are wrong. She seems to have quite a lot more family than that. And what a family!"


	18. Celebrations

_Thank you for the reviews, nice to know you still want to read my story._

---------------------

"Rats!" House exclaimed startling everyone in the room. Officer Martin had just closed the door behind her and they were all – except apparently House – still stunned at what had happened.

"What?" Chase stared at House in total incomprehension – as did the others.

"Rats," House repeated. "Our patient has Leptospirosis. He works in a restaurant as a cleaner. He takes the trash out and there is no way to keep rats away from trashcans, no matter what you do."

"How ... What made you think of that now?" Foreman was stunned. They had just saved Aiko – though it did seem like she had never been in real danger, thanks to House – so how could House think of anything else right now. Even a patient!

"Well, I smelled a rat the moment Tritter walked in," House shrugged as he dug Aiko out of her nest and handed her to Kasumii, who immediately cuddled the baby like she was the most precious thing in this world – which she was. House stood up to write on the board.

"Hold it!" Cameron was not going to let things just slide back to normal – whatever normal was these days, she wasn't too sure about that. "The patient can wait five minutes. I'll be happy to go and test for Leptospirosis or anything else you come up with in a moment, but we are not going to just ignore what happened just now! You may have known that Aiko was safe but we got the scare of our lives. Officer Martin was right: we, too, are her family." Cameron went to Kasumii and took Aiko from her for the next cuddle. Chase and Foreman went to her to wait for their turn.

"Fine!" House huffed. "Have it your way, let the patient die, what do I care. Just don't expect me to participate in any group-hugs."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Foreman acknowledged as he got his turn with Aiko.

"Hey! Watch it, she is a baby," House exclaimed. "No need to pass her around like a cheerleader at the end of the season party!"

"House!" Cameron admonished him. "You really need to clean up your metaphors when your daughter is around."

"Why?" House asked. "Do you want me to give her a false view on reality? How am I supposed to teach her to look after herself if at the same time I need to give her a rose-coloured picture of the world?"

"Just because you don't immediately give her the worst-case scenario for everything is not giving her a false picture of the world!" Cameron insisted. "Life can be beautiful, too."

"Yeah, tell that to Aiko," House invited. "She is three weeks old, both her parents are dead, she has been forced to move to a foreign country away from her last living family member and there has already been one kidnap attempt against her. Yep, sounds like a real bed of roses."

"And yet she is happy," Kasumii pointed out. "Because she is loved and protected."

"I give up!" House threw his hands in the air. "What did I do to get not one, but two stuffed toys made by grandma in my staff?"

"Got lucky?" David quipped from the side. House gave him a glare. "Hey, don't knock it there are men who would give just about anything to be in your shoes." Before House could give him the retort that obviously was on the tip of his tongue, David went on: "But I have to say it was a good thing you had those papers here, even though I think it would have been extremely difficult for Yamamoto to get Aiko out of this country with just that letter from his parents."

"There is still a lot of legal stuff that needs to be taken care off with Aiko," House shrugged. "I have full set of copies both here and at home, Cuddy has duplicates both in her office and home, the lawyers involved both here and in Japan have copies and Dr. Higa, too, has copies of everything so I can pretty much get my hands on any relevant document I need almost instantly."

"Were you expecting trouble from the Yamamotos?" Chase asked – cuddling Aiko in his turn. Aiko herself seemed to take this impromptu celebration quite calmly, at least as long as she was able to still hear House's voice.

"No, not from them," House said coming over to tickle Aiko's cheek. "But though I am Aiko's legal guardian, the adoption is by no means a slam dunk. I'm not exactly ideal parent material. Anyway, in connection with that I need to have the documents at hand, especially the ones that show that Aiko's parents wanted me to have her."

"Well, whatever the reason was for you having them here, they sure came in handy," Foreman noted.

"And I may sound vindictive, but I sure was not unhappy to see Officer Tritter retreat in defeat," Cameron said with a very slight amount of venom in her voice.

"I think we all enjoyed that," Chase observed. He sure had enjoyed seeing Tritter's discomfort. Hopefully that was not the end of it but House really would implicate him in the kidnap attempt, too.

"Are you going to go after him?" David asked House.

"For kidnapping you mean?" House thought for a minute. "He put Aiko in danger. That I was able to foil the plan the Yamamotos had, does not change his part in it. I'll definitely instruct my lawyer to do what he can. But I think we have discussed this minor disturbance enough for today! We do have a patient, you know. So folks, can we like maybe cure him before his Leptospirosis turns into Weil's syndrome."

"He is not even jaundiced yet," Cameron ignored House's sarcasm. "He can wait a few more minutes, I'll do the tests soon enough. But we want to celebrate the defeat of Tritter and Yamamoto, so we are going to go and do that today, after work. I'll book us a table at a restaurant where Aiko can come, too and we'll all meet there right after work."

"You can do what you want," House shrugged. "But count me out."

"No, we will not count you out," Cameron told him. "Unless you want to go home without Aiko, you will come too and have a nice meal with the rest of us. And Cuddy and Wilson, too."

House glared at her for a minute, actually considering going home and leaving Aiko to Kasumii and Cuddy, but the idea of a night alone, without his daughter did not appeal. In fact – and he would much rather die than admit to it – it terrified him. Though he had known there was no chance that Tritter could take Aiko from him, he had still felt a horrible jolt with the mere idea that he might loose her. He needed her home tonight. "Fine!" He snapped, hiding his true feelings. "Just remember that if you try something like this again, I do have the power to fire you."

"You may have the power, but you won't do it," Cameron stated with confidence.

"And what makes you think that!" House rolled his eyes.

"Been there, done that," Cameron smirked. "Besides, Cuddy would never let you do it without a good reason and forcing you to have a civil – ok, strike that, it is still you – but a fairly civil meal with your co-workers is not what Cuddy would accept as a good reason."

-------------------------

Later that night then, House found himself in a restaurant with his ducklings, his Nanny, his physiotherapist, his best friend and his boss. Well, he did have his daughter in his arms, so it could have been worse. Besides he was having some fun – quite a lot of fun actually, starting with Cuddy.

"Cuddy, my dear," House had interrupted Cuddy as she was about to choose wine to go with her meal. "You better stick to water. I saw you eat frozen yoghurt with potato chips today. If you want to keep your ass in its stunning shape, you better watch the calories!"

Cuddy gave him a murderous glare – that lifted his spirits no end – but she followed his advice. She had no way of knowing how long she could keep her figure now that she had decided to go ahead with the baby-project again, but she sure wanted to keep it as long as she could.

"So House," Wilson decided to run interference before blood was spilled. "I'm still a little unsure on how you got Aiko so soon. I know it has something to do with you being her guardian as per her parents' will, but ten days, is still fast. Especially in Japan."

"I got lucky," House replied. "Carly was in Tokyo, in the Songo Cosmetics Asian headquarters, and she put her people on it. What she couldn't do, we got some other way. Dr. Higa has helped quite a few influential people during his career, I knew a few people in the US embassy – old military kids like me, I also got some help from Dad's old military pals who happen to be stationed in Japan. Though I dread to think what Dad will say when he finds out they helped! Basically we called in every favour we could think of."

"Carly," Foreman pondered. "Oh, yes. She is the one who got the heart. Did we ever find out what was the matter with her?"

"She had a heart failure," House stated neutrally. Chase lowered his gaze to the table and refused to say anything. Those days had not been proud days for him.

"Why would your Dad not be happy that his friends helped you?" Cameron questioned.

"I know my parents went home yesterday, but surely that is not so long ago that you cannot remember that he was not exactly thrilled with his new granddaughter," House reminded her.

"I thought he was just nervous around babies," Foreman frowned.

"Hmhm. That is what my Mother would like to believe," House nodded. "But apart from the fact that he doesn't think I'm fit to be anybody's parent, he also does not like the idea of having a non-American grandkid. He might come around if I was going to raise Aiko as a _proper American_, as he put it, but as I have no intention of doing that... Well, just don't expect any happy smiles from him."

"I can't accept that," Cuddy shook her head. "Sure it may take him time, as all this has happened so suddenly, but how could anyone resist Aiko! Just look around even here: everybody is giving her sweet looks and thinking she is adorable."

"It's not Aiko, Cuddy," House dead-panned. "It's me." Cuddy gave him an exasperated look.

"Actually he has a point," David muttered having seen quite a few of the ladies give House a definitely assessing looks. "If he was here alone, with Aiko, I think he would score big time."

"House?" Chase seriously doubted that.

"Of course," House told him. "Discerning women prefer experience over great hair any day. Just ask Cuddy."

"Shut up, House," Cuddy snapped routinely.

Fortunately the waiter brought their orders just then and they had to change the subject. For some reason House had ordered pickles on the side with his food, which made everyone stare, but nobody dared to say anything. Chase did wonder in his mind if taking care of Aiko had somehow elevated House's estrogens levels and cause cravings, but even he was not foolish enough to say anything aloud. Anyway, House did not eat the pickles. Halfway through the meal Cuddy looked searchingly around her, like she was looking something and House pushed the pickles to her; she looked at them a little puzzled at first, but then shrugged and mixed them with the salad. Apparently they were what she had wanted as she then ate her meal contentedly.

House finished his meal first and he told the others that it really was time for him to get Aiko home. He got some protests to his announcement, but he ignored them. He wheeled himself out of the restaurant, pausing to have a word with their waiter on the way out, and he was gone. Only after he was gone, did the others realise that he had not paid for his meal.

"Did we really think he was going to," Cuddy asked.

"No," Wilson sighed. "Getting a daughter will change a man only so much." They all laughed feeling in charity with House for the moment. Not that that lasted for long. Once they had finished their meals, the waiter brought them coffee – or he brought coffee to Wilson and Foreman, the rest got tea; compliments of Dr. House.

"I am so going to kill him tomorrow!" Startled both Cuddy and Kasumii looked up; they had both said the same thing at the same time.

"What, what is going on?" Wilson asked. Having got his coffee he had not paid attention to what the others had been served. "Why are you drinking herbal tea, Lisa?"

"I'm not," Cuddy ground through her teeth. "It's House!"

"Why did we get green tea?" Cameron wondered exchanging glances with Chase. Kasumii looked up at them and then she bit back a smile: at least House was after others as well and not just her.

"So would you care to tell me why you two want to kill House?" David asked. "I mean, I know why I want to do it, but I'd like to know your reasons too."

"And if you have an idea why we got green tea, other than he is trying to find new ways of calling me a _Britt_, I'd like to know," Chase invited.

"Actually I'm fairly sure you really don't want me to explain to you why you got green tea," Kasumii declined.

"Oh, no, after that you will have to tell," Foreman insisted.

"Fine," Kasumii shrugged. "Green tea is drunk for its invigorating properties. It gives energy and zest. It is also an aphrodisiac."

"You two are sleeping together?" Wilson asked.

"None of our business," Cuddy intervened, then spoiling it with: "Good for you."

"But surely you do not want to kill House because of our tea," Chase asked.

"No, I want to kill him because of my tea," Kasumii muttered darkly.

"Because it is Lady Grey?" David queried. "To my Lord Grey tea? Don't you think you should leave killing him to me; after all, I'm the one who gave him reason to _join_ us, so to speak."

"Do you know what is in Lady Grey blend and why?" Kasumii asked David.

"No, not really. I know it has bergamot oil, like Earl Grey, but what else, no, I don't know."

"In addition to bergamot it has Sicilian orange and lemon," Kasumii explained tightly. "They have been added to the tea, because it was believed that they would temper the improper impulses the tea itself might invoke in young women."

"In other words, House is telling you not to _put out_ on your first date," Foreman couldn't quite hide his smirk. It was nice to see someone else suffer from one of House's jokes.

"If I know House, he is telling me not to _put out_ period." Kasumii nearly spat.

"So if that was the reason for the Lady Grey blend for Ms. Tanaka, why did you get Lord Grey?" Cameron asked David.

"He must have done a background check on me," David sighed.

"And that would reveal what?" Wilson asked.

"That though my mother married a plain old Grey, she was a Grey even before that," David revealed. "Of the Earl Grey's blend Greys. Not the main line, or even the secondary line, you understand. A few too many younger sons there for her to be called even Lady Anne, but still, the _tea-man_ was her great, great something grandfather. I just cannot understand how House could have found that out!"

"You'd be surprised at what he can find out," Cuddy rolled her eyes. "Or what he can make people reveal to him."

"Which reminds me; we still don't know why you want to kill him," David pointed.

"No reason," Cuddy tried to refuse. "I just don't care for peppermint tea."

"Why would he order herbal tea for you," Cameron wondered.

"Oh, oh," Wilson suddenly had a light-bulb moment. "You ate the pickles he had ordered! And didn't he say he had seen you eat frozen yogurt with potato-chips - together? earlier? You are pregnant!"

"I am not pregnant," Cuddy emphasized. "Just because House thinks so, does not mean it is so."

"It was the last time," Wilson reminded her.

"Just because I have decided to try again," Cuddy decided that some information, even if maybe slightly misleading, had to be shared. "Does not mean that I am pregnant now. Besides, even if I was pregnant, which I'm not, it would be only the fifth or sixth day. There is no way he could know! The cravings – if they have even been that – could just be side-effects of the treatments. And I do not appreciate having this conversation in public!"

"I think we should just drink our teas and coffees and call it a day," Cameron said. "Let's just agree that House had his revenge on us for forcing him to join in, and leave it at that. And Lisa, why don't I stop by in the morning and do a blood test. You can rub the results in House's face, then."

"Thank you, I think that is a good idea," Lisa agreed.

"But why did Wilson and Foreman get just plain coffee?" Chase couldn't let go of the topic yet.

"Apparently you two don't have any secrets or other things he could mock. Lucky you for being so boring," Cuddy sniped. She had not appreciated Wilson's _light bulb_.

A little later they had finished their meal, and managed to actually regain their good mood by reminding themselves why they were celebrating; Aiko could lighten even the darkest of moods – just look at House! They even managed to laugh at House's stunt. It was so typical of him, and actually rather funny – if you weren't the target. Though they all decided not to tell him that they had actually understood the messages he had sent them; after all Cameron and Chase really had needed the explanation. All in all they decided that they could do this again – only next time they would get House, not the other way around.


	19. Morning sickness

Cuddy was in her office waiting for Cameron on Wednesday morning. Cameron thought she looked rather pale.

"Lisa? Are you ok?" Cameron asked. "Surely you didn't stay awake all night worrying about this. There is no way House can be right!"

"It's not that," Cuddy shook her head. "I slept just fine. Or so I thought. It seems though that I didn't get much rest."

"House was really out of line doing that to you," Cameron said. "He knows how much you want a child, teasing you about it, is just not right."

"You know House," Cuddy shrugged – trying to forget that she was feeling rather nauseous. It was NOT morning sickness. There was no way she was pregnant after just one try. And even if she was, there was no way the symptoms would be this bad after just six days. No way.

"Yes, sometimes I think unfortunately!" Cameron agreed. "Like I knew when I chose to sleep with Chase that there is no way to keep it secret, at least not for long. But I still didn't appreciate House announcing it to everybody yesterday. Especially the way he did it. Though, it is just like him to out us with tea – of all things."

"Well, he is a _tea_-totaller these days," Cuddy observed dryly.

"Would you ever have believed it?" Cameron had to smile. She took the blood they needed and sealed the vial.

"No, not in a million years!" Cuddy agreed. "Had anyone told me a month ago that House was not only going to choose to accept the guardianship of a baby girl, but that he would also make all the necessary – and quite a few not that necessary – changes in his life to accommodate her I would have first laughed myself silly and then I would have committed that person to our psych ward."

---------

Cuddy had finally chosen to do the test herself. Cameron had offered to stay with her, but she preferred to be alone. So here she was, biting her knuckles, alone in the lab. Not for long though. The results were not quite ready yet, when she heard the door open and someone come in. As she turned to say that she was almost ready, but would appreciate being left alone she found herself facing House.

"Results about ready?" House asked.

"House!" Cuddy glared at him. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think? I want to know the results, too." House shrugged.

"What results?" Cuddy decided to feign ignorance.

"Oh, come on," House laughed. "I gave you a clear enough hint last night that I think we hit the jackpot the first time. Though I think you should have realised what was going on the moment you decided to mix potato chips with your frozen yogurt."

"That could have been a result of my normal cycle! Well, not completely normal, but stress or whatever could have caused a hormonal surge or imbalance that caused the craving," Cuddy was not going to hope before she had some proof that there was reason to hope.

"Whatever it was, we are about to find out," House pointed out as the timer indicated that the test was ready. Cuddy froze. "Do you want me to check it for you?" Cuddy shook her head mutely. "Ok, but if you don't do it soon, I will, like it or not." Cuddy nodded and turned to look.

"It's positive," she whispered, hardly daring to believe her eyes. "It could be a false result, though. No test is completely accurate this early on."

"Cuddy," House shook her gently. "I'm telling you: you are pregnant; you have a test telling you the same thing; and you are getting the same message from your puppies too!" House nodded at Cuddy's cleavage, earning a customary glare from her. But Cuddy had to admit that her bra had felt uncomfortable that morning.

"So, ok, maybe I am pregnant," Cuddy muttered biting her lip. "But that does not mean I'm going to stay that way."

"There are never any guarantees, we both know that," House told her. "But you know that the risk of miscarriage is always higher when there have been fertility treatments or in vitro involved in getting pregnant. This time you got pregnant the normal way. That alone increases your chances of carrying this baby full term. You had tests both before you decided to try to get pregnant and after your miscarriage. They could not find any physical reason why you miscarried. It just happened. This time it won't."

"Because you say so?" Cuddy asked sarcastically.

"When have I ever been wrong?" House answered with exaggerated arrogance.

"I sincerely hope that this isn't the first time then," Cuddy sighed. "I better go and tell Cameron that I was not able to rub the results in your face."

"Was that what you were going to do, had it been negative," House laughed.

"Vigorously!"

------------------------------

Kasumii was in the conference room with Aiko and Cameron and Foreman when House got back to his office. He joined them, though the atmosphere was a little cool there. Not that he minded. Quite the contrary, he was amused by their pouting. He sat down and took Aiko in his arms – she at least was very happy to see him.

"You know, if you are going to pretend you didn't get my _messages_, last night, you have to try a lot harder," House observed.

"What messages," Cameron still tried.

"You know perfectly well," House observed. "You are huffing and puffing all over the place in righteous indignation that is clearly aimed at me. Since I haven't had a chance to do anything yet this morning, it has to be about last night! Besides, I already spoke with Wilson this morning and you know that expecting him to keep a secret is like expecting a hooker to give free samples."

"I believe Dr. Cameron already told you to clean up your metaphors when you are with Aiko," Kasumii told House sternly.

"She is too young to understand me yet," House defended himself.

"She won't be forever," Kasumii pointed out. "And I suspect that it will take you quite a long time to clean up your language! So start now."

"Yes, Mom," House flipped. "So how is our patient this morning? Did we get his Leptospirosis before it got worse?"

"Yes we did," Foreman told him. "He is responding to treatment and is off the critical list now."

"Good!" House nodded. "Any other patients I should know about?"

"Nope," Foreman said. "Not unless Chase comes up with someone in the clinic."

"Fine," House nodded then. He gave Aiko back to Kasumii and got up. "I'll go then to have a word with my lawyer about yesterday's little incident – not the one in the restaurant; drinking tea is perfectly legal. I mean the one with Yamamoto and Tritter."

"We sort of figured that was the one you meant," Foreman told him grumpily.

Before House got any further though, he found that he had a visitor. Officer Tritter was standing in the corridor outside House's office. He had obviously intended to go in, but having seen House in the conference room he was now hesitating. House made up his mind for him by limping into the corridor.

"Tritter," he greeted the other man.

"House," was the response. House didn't say anything more, just stood there in the corridor leaning on his cane. Finally Tritter asked: "Can we go into your office?"

"No," House said. "Whatever you have to say, you can say it here. Because whatever it is, it better be brief. I have very little time for you."

"Well, my bosses think I should apologise to you," Tritter said.

"Bosses tend to think that way," House nodded wisely. "It's just that I don't care much for apologies."

"I know you don't give them," Tritter shrugged.

"I don't much care for receiving them either," House revealed. "Besides, this is not something that an apology could fix. You endangered my daughter."

"So you are going to sue me," Tritter acknowledged.

"I don't want to sue you," House told him.

"Well, that's good," Tritter mused cautiously.

"I want to beat the crap out of you," House continued.

"Not so good," Tritter stated.

"That, though, is not an option, so you will be hearing from my lawyer," House told him. "And you can tell that to your superiors." House turned his back to him and went back to the conference room and through it to his office where he gathered the papers he needed for his conference with his lawyer. Once he looked into the corridor again, Tritter was gone.

----------------------------------

Wilson was in Cuddy's office. He had heard from Cameron that Cuddy's test had been positive.

"So you succeeded this time," Wilson congratulated Cuddy.

"I got pregnant last time, too," Cuddy cautioned him. "It just didn't last. Besides, early tests are not completely accurate."

"But usually you get a false negative, not a false positive," Wilson reminded her.

"True; and I'm actually sure that it was right," Cuddy sighed. "I'm just trying to get used to the idea still. And I'm also trying to get over my annoyance at House, for being the one – once again – to tell me that I'm pregnant. He seems to have some kind of weird radar for pregnancies!"

"Well, in your case his excuse is that you are his boss, and therefore your health is important to him," Wilson told Cuddy. "If something happens to you – or even if you go on maternity leave – he has to get used to someone else in your place. He doesn't like changes as you well know."

"After the changes he has made for Aiko, I would think my possible maternity leave would be a breeze for him," Cuddy pointed out.

"Or it could be the thing that breaks the Camel's back!" Wilson pondered.

"If anyone's back is going to broken, it will be mine," Cuddy predicted. "Can you just imagine the fun he is going to have at my expense once I start to show – I mean show in a way that other people see it, too, and not just him."

"I don't think my imagination is good enough to go there," Wilson shuddered. "I'll try to talk to him, but I don't think it will help much."

"Highly unlikely," Cuddy sighed. "Well, I suppose I'll learn to live with it. Besides, I can always assign him more clinic hours if he gets too impossible."

"I think that would work better than me talking to him and trying to make him behave like a gentleman," Wilson agreed.

"Gentleman?" Cuddy asked. "I'm not sure he even knows how to spell that word." Though privately Cuddy rather thought that even if House's manners weren't gentlemanly, his discretion actually might be. She sure hoped so, at least. But even so, once she was sure she was really going to have this baby and not miscarry, they would need to talk.

_------------------------_

_Yes, I know to get symptoms just about immediately after conception is not usual – it is not even very rare, it is very, very, very rare. Just not** totally** impossible. And there is a blood test, though very expensive (or so I have been told) that can detect pregnancy 3-4 days into it, though I do not know if you can get the results in two hours. But again, this is fiction; you will need to swallow a lot bigger flies than this, if you keep on reading ;)_


	20. Fashion policing

_Thank you again for your opinions, they do rub my ego very much the right way ;D. _

_As for Cuddy getting pregnant straight away – my original plan was to make them do it again, but then I realised that Cuddy would not be pregnant when I need her to be. And of course there is nothing (humanly possible) House can't do – he is House! _

----------------------

House and Kasumii had worked out a routine of sorts within a week. Once House found out that Kasumii was an experienced biker – she had used one most of her time in England – he loaned her his bike. So every morning round 8 o'clock Kasumii rode to House's apartment, got in with the key he had given her and started Aiko's morning routines while House tried to get a little more sleep. Then they got to the hospital together and Kasumii spent the day looking after Aiko, when House did his job – more or less. They got back home together, and Kasumii rode the bike back to Cuddy's, unless House needed her to stay longer like when Aiko had another bout of colic and Kasumii stayed to help. House had insisted that she take the next day off to recuperate.

Usually Aiko was about to wake up when Kasumii got in and though House did stir a little when she came to get the baby from her crib, he rarely woke up. At least after the first morning. The first morning Kasumii had gone quietly into the bedroom to check on Aiko and as the baby was stirring she went to the crib to take her. As she bent over the baby – but before she actually had lifted her – she heard House's sleepy voice from the bed.

"You are so seriously not wearing that anywhere near the hospital!"

Kasumii checked her biker outfit: thick, black, protective cowhide pants and equally thick and protective pink cowhide jacket. Her pink helmet she had thrown on the couch as she came in. "Is there something wrong with my outfit?" She asked puzzled.

"Not a bloody thing," House growled. "And that is the problem." He turned on his back in the bed, pushed himself in a sitting position and took his Vicodin bottle from the night stand. He took one and dry swallowed it. Kasumii picked Aiko from the crib and cradled her in her arms wondering what House was talking about.

"I don't understand."

"Do you know those Tomb Raider movies?" House asked.

"Yes, I've seen one," Kasumii nodded – none the wiser. "Angelina Jolie, I think."

"Yep," House agreed. "You look hotter in that get-up than she did as Lara Croft. If you show up in the hospital looking like that, Wilson will have a heart attack and Chase and Foreman will be useless for a week," House paused for a ponder. "Actually, Chase would probably end up in the dog-house for a month with Cameron... Nah, I still don't want Wilson to have a heart attack. As for Grey, well let me put it like this: never, ever, ever, wear that outfit anywhere near him unless you really, really, **really** want to give him ideas."

"But it's just protective gear!" Kasumii insisted. She had never given it a second thought – except to think that she looked rather nice and the colour was fun.

"By all means wear it when you drive!" House agreed. "I'm glad you have it. But when off the bike, you need to be aware of the effect you have. Your hour class figure – I didn't even realise you had an hour class figure till now – in leather, would give any man some seriously disturbing ideas."

"Any man except you, of course; I suspect I could parade here naked and you wouldn't get any ideas," Kasumii muttered a little miffed at House. Not because of his apparent indifference to her looks – that she actually found very comforting – but at his patronising tone and assumption that all men (but him) would just drool after her in this gear. If they did, she would have noticed, she wasn't that blind.

"Grhm," House cleared his throat. "What was that first rule again?"

Kasumii stared at him for a moment in incomprehension, but then – thinking back to the subject at hand – she ventured: "All men are pigs?"

"Yep, that was the one," House nodded. "It's true they are not all the same, some are Berkshire Blacks, some Vietnamese Potbellies, there are a few Gloucester Old Spots even a Chester White or two, some are miniature pigs some are real hogs, but even so ..." House looked at Kasumii to finish for him.

"Even so, a pig is a pig is a pig," Kasumii obliged. "So no parades?"

"No parades," House nodded. "I may not be into infants, but let's not foolishly try and find out what would make me change my mind about that. Better safe than sorry." House yawned and blinked his sleepy eyes. "I still have an hour to sleep, have coffee ready for when I wake up." He burrowed back under the covers leaving Kasumii to glare at him in amused exasperation. She didn't waste her time in prolonging the glare, though. She took Aiko to the other room and got on with their morning. She did have coffee ready when House crawled out of bed.

--------------------------------

The day after Aiko had turned one month old, Kasumii stayed home because Aiko had had a bout of colic the night before and House had insisted that Kasumii – who had stayed with them and been up all night – take the day off and catch up on her sleep. Because of that House spent most of the day with his daughter, except when he did his clinic hours at Cuddy's insistence. Cuddy was more than happy to watch over Aiko for those hours. The rest of the time House watched Aiko himself.

Chase had a patient in the clinic with symptoms indicating a problem with her kidneys, so he needed to consult House. As usual, when Aiko was in, House's office door was locked, so Chase entered through the conference room. The blinds were drawn and the room was dim and his eyes needed to adjust to the dimmer light in the room so Chase didn't see House immediately. When he did see him – and Aiko – he got the surprise of his lifetime. Or at least yet another one to the series of surprises that had been coming fast and furious since House had got back from Tokyo.

House had used pillows and blankets to make a sort of reclining nest for the two of them. His feet were on a chair and Aiko was cradled against his chest. Aiko was wearing just her diaper and House had taken his shirt off. They were listening to music and House was moving Aiko's hands – or alternatively her feet in time to the beat. They were both obviously having fun.

"I need a consult," Chase said trying to avoid looking at House.

"Fine, shoot," House responded turning down the music a little.

"Won't you put your shirt on?" Chase suggested a little uncomfortably.

"Why?" House asked. Then a hint of mischief entered his eyes and Chase knew he should have kept his mouth shut. "Or are you afraid that you will suddenly be overcome with lust and attack me?"

"No!" Chase tried to shrug nonchalantly. "Suit your self. I don't mind."

"Then why bring it up?" House asked gleefully. "Or is Cameron standing outside peeking through the curtains? It must be galling that an old guy like me can get her more hot and bothered than you – even when you are sleeping with her."

"Cameron is over you," Chase insisted. "Nothing about her feelings for you bothers me."

"Somehow that didn't convince me," House mused kissing Aiko's head while he sort of jiggled her gently in time to music. Chase couldn't help but stare. He wondered if either of his parents had ever played like that with him when he was a baby. He doubted it. House startled him out of his wonderings stating: "I have seen Cameron look at me again with the same light in her eyes that she has had before."

"No she isn't," Chase insisted, though he wasn't that convinced himself.

"Yes she is," House repeated. "Not that I think it's personal. Mostly wishful thinking on her part; you know, all the _what ifs_ that she can think of. What if she had managed to connect with me and give me a baby? What if she had managed to make me as _happy, happy, happy_ as I seem to be with Aiko? What if she had been the one to, apparently, heal me. All useless and unrealistic. She is also brooding, by the way."

"Brooding?" Chase asked suspiciously.

"Yep," House confirmed. "In the original meaning of that word; Cuddy is pregnant, I have a baby; Cameron is getting ideas."

"Well, I see nothing wrong in her wanting to have children one day," Chase wondered how they had got to this subject. He was quite sure he had had something else entirely in his mind when he had entered the office. If only he could remember what it was! House playing with his daughter was something so darn endearing and yet something Chase had never expected to witness and he still didn't know if he should just shrug and accept it or check if the world was still revolving!

"One day," House accepted. "I'm sure nobody would have a problem with that. However, that is not what I'm talking about. She has already convinced herself that while she is waiting for _Mr. Right_ you will do as a _Mr. Right-Now_. Knowing her, it won't take her that much to convince herself that having you as the father of her baby will work out, too, as she is now pretty much at the ideal age to have children but is still not in a steady relationship."

"You are imagining things," Chase told House. "She has said nothing that would even hint that she wants a child right now."

"She won't," House insisted. "She will most likely have an _accident_, and she will quite possibly even convince herself that it really was, almost certainly, an accident. So when she tells you that as she is on the pill and neither of you are currently engaging in any other risky behaviour you could leave off the condom: don't! - unless you want to hear the pitter-patter of little wombat feet."

"She would never deceive me like that!" Chase exclaimed. "She is Cameron."

"What did she give you as a reason why she chose you?" House asked. "And I mean why you, specifically, not the drivel about there being no point in waiting for the right guy."

"I really don't see how that is any of your business," Chase said.

"Did she tell you that you are the one person she will probably not fall in love with?" House smiled. Chase refused to meet his gaze but his cheeks flamed. "I'm sure she believes that, but the truth is that she chose you because she is attracted to damaged people. She does not see it consciously, but that is the reason why she is drawn to you. That was my attraction to her, and you are possibly even more damaged than I am. Sure, it may be a draw, but that is still why she chose you. She just doesn't know it. She is an idealist. She wants to heal, and not-hurt people, but she is as capable of lying to herself as the next person."

"Really," Chase tried to give a non-committal answer.

"Really," House nodded. "And the next person being you, I can only assume that you are lying to yourself too. Especially about that it would not bother you if she actually did find that elusive _Mr. Right_ and left you. Of course you are both entitled to your lies, who am I to tell you to live in reality, but I just thought I ought to give you a heads up."

"Yeah, thanks so much," Chase muttered feeling considerably less than grateful.

"However, I'm fairly sure you didn't come here to either ogle my beautiful body or to get advice on your relationship with Cameron," House wondered. "So what was it? You said something about a consult?"

"Yeah," Chase suddenly remembered the file in his hand. "I have this patient."

"Ok," House turned the music off completely. "Hand me the file. Only you better first take Aiko."

House handed Aiko to Chase and took the file from him. Chase cradled Aiko in his arms and whispered sweet nothings to her ear.

"You can dress her," House pointed out as he got up from the floor and reached for his own shirt. "Her clothes are on the changing table."

"Sure," Chase agreed – again trying for a nonchalant tone. In truth he was happy House allowed him to do this. He could not help it; he loved Aiko – like they all did. Had Tritter succeeded in taking her away, they would all have mourned. Maybe the pitter-patter of little _wombat_-feet was not such a very bad idea.

"She cried all through the night last night," House interrupted Chase's musings. "It's not all fun and games, being responsible for someone so small. She has taken over my whole life. Everything is secondary to her needs. Before you think Cameron's might be a good idea, you need to think are you really ready to take on the responsibility. It's my job to see that Aiko is happy. For the rest of her life. If I fail... Think about it. You know who pays the price when parents fail."

"Yeah," Chase grunted. Maybe he needed to think some more.

"I think we need to do some more tests with your patient," House changed the subject. "It is probably just kidney stones, but we have to make sure there is no tumour."

"Ok, I'll ask Foreman to help me with them," Chase nodded lifting Aiko from the table. She was now all dressed up in a pink onsie and looking adorable – as usual. He handed her to House.

"Right," House said sitting down on his wheelchair, "let's go and see what we can do with your patient."

----------

Later that day Chase bought an extra package of condoms, just in case. He was so not ready to heat the _pitter-patter of little wombat-feet_ as House had put it. Though he did feel foolish, there was no way Cameron would try to deceive him about something so important.


	21. Confrontations

By the time Aiko was about 5 weeks old, Cuddy was about two weeks pregnant. Even though she had believed the first test, Cuddy still did another blood test, just to be sure. The effect the test results had on her, were interesting. Or at least House found them interesting, a little irritating since he figured he had to do something about them, but still interesting. Cuddy was nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. At first House found it even a little amusing, but after two days he decided that enough was enough. He took Wilson with him and they confronted Cuddy.

"Do you want to miscarry?" House asked pretty much the moment he and Wilson walked into Cuddy's office. Her head snapped up and she stared at the two of them. Wilson looked pained, House had his usual irritating _I'm interested_ look on his face and Cuddy was deeply grateful that she was alone in her office.

"Do you want to announce my pregnancy to all and sundry without asking me if I want everybody to know?" Cuddy asked in return, trying to get control of this bizarre conversation. Though she could not help but feel at a disadvantage as the men came over to her, one on each side, to lean their butts against her desk towering over her while she sat on her chair. She pushed the chair as far back, away from the desk, as she could so that she could watch them and regain some control.

"I don't need to do any announcing; Wilson and Cameron have taken care of that between them. Though there may be a night janitor in the surgical ward that has not heard yet, but I'm sure he will be taken care of in the next thirty minutes or so," House told her blithely. Wilson groaned beside him. House went on: "Anyway, that doesn't answer my original question: Do you want to miscarry? Are you suddenly having second thoughts about this baby? Because there are easier ways to change your mind than stressing yourself into miscarriage."

"I don't want to miscarry and I'm not stressing," Cuddy responded agitatedly.

"Lisa," Wilson decided to take over before House went too far and really did induce a spontaneous abortion. "You have been on edge ever since House first told you, you are pregnant. For the last two days after this last test, you have been on pins and needles. You hardly dare go near patients because you fear you might catch something, you don't go into the lab because you fear the chemicals, you run up the stairs and suddenly stop and go back down – slowly – and use the lift. You bite your nails! You fiddle with your pearls all the time! You are suddenly so brittle we fear the slightest thing will just shatter you."

"Have you been spying on me?" Cuddy didn't know how else to respond.

"No, of course not," House dismissed her idea. "Wilson is hopeless as a spy. No, I had to do it myself – with some help from Cameron."

"Why am I not surprised that you have, once again, invaded my privacy," Cuddy sighed.

"Come on Cuddy, surely you know by now that you have no such thing as privacy!" House teased her. "At least not from me you don't."

"So now that you have invaded my privacy, you have come here to tell me to just _chill_, to take it easy, stop stressing and just snap out of it?" Cuddy's voice was getting a little shrill.

"Lisa, we know you cannot just _snap_ out of it," Wilson said in a soothing voice. "Of course we want you to stop stressing; we worry about you and your baby. But we know you cannot. That is why I got you a time with a therapist I know. She specialises in pregnant women and all the fears that can be associated with having a baby from the fear of miscarriage to fear of giving birth. You have an appointment in half an hour."

"I don't have the time," Cuddy tried to explain.

"I checked your schedule first," Wilson told her. "You have the time."

"What if I just don't want to go," Cuddy defied them.

"Then we come back to my original question: Do you want to miscarry?" House pointed out.

"You think this therapist could really help?" Cuddy asked in a small voice.

"Yes, we think she could really help," Wilson assured her. "I wouldn't have set up the meeting otherwise."

"Fine," Cuddy gave up. "It can't hurt to at least see her once and then I can make up my own mind if I want to go on meeting her."

"Good girl," Wilson approved.

"There, that wasn't so difficult," House said earning a dirty look from both of his friends who both knew how impossible it was to get House accept any kind of help or therapy. Or at least it had been until Aiko came along.

"And to answer your question once and for all," Cuddy snapped at him a little. "No, I do not want to miscarry!"

"I didn't think you did," House told her. "And you are not going to. I told you once already, and I am telling you again. This time you will have your baby."

"But you could be wrong," Cuddy bit her lip in uncertainty. She wanted to believe him, but there was no way he really could know.

"I'm never wrong," House claimed. "Just ask Wilson."

"Annoyingly enough I cannot remember the last time he was wrong," Wilson obliged.

"See, even my best friend hates me for being always right," House pointed out smugly. Cuddy had to smile. "There! That's more like it," House smiled back. "Now get your butt out of that chair and let Wilson take you to your therapist."

"Fine, I suppose I can trust you two," Cuddy agreed. "At least just this once. Just don't think that this will be any kind of precedent. I'm still the head of this hospital!"

----------------------------------

"How did the meeting go?" House asked Wilson when he got back. "Do you think Cuddy will keep on going to therapy?"

"I didn't sit in on the meeting, you know," Wilson pointed out to House.

"Yeah, yeah, I knew you would wimp out of that," House accepted. "But you were there when they first met. How was it? Did Cuddy take an instant dislike to your friend or what?"

"I think they got on fine. Lisa was a little wary, but I think after the first handshake she was ready to give Angie a chance. And she did book the next time right away as she came out again," Wilson related.

"Good, good," House nodded. "I hope this helps. If she doesn't get her stress levels down soon, she may well loose this child, too and that would devastate her. It took no little courage of her to try again."

"You knew that she was trying again then," Wilson was a little surprised though Lisa had asked House's help before. "You knew she was pregnant because you were watching for signs."

"Well I suppose that I could take some credit for this," House mused perking Wilson's interest. "I told her that she should not let fear stop her from going after what she wants. That before she let's go of her dream she should be sure that her decision was not dictated by fear. Once she had thought it over she told me."

"Hmm, I think I'm glad she had the courage to try again," Wilson agreed, though he was slightly disappointed that House hadn't had anything juicier to report.

"Anyway, that's Cuddy taken care off, at least for now," House stood up ready to leave his office. "Two more to go!"

"What two?" Wilson was lost. "What are you talking about?"

"Chase and Cameron," House explained. "They are not talking today and it is interfering with my department."

"And you are going to give them advice?!" Wilson stared at his friend not believing his ears – not even a little.

"No, don't be silly," House huffed in exasperation. "I'm going to have fun at their expense and then read them the riot act about not letting personal things interfere with their work. I already gave the advice; that is why they are fighting."

"You mean they came to you for advice?!" Wilson didn't know if he was coming or going anymore. This was too bizarre for words.

"Wilson, wake up! Nobody but an idiot would come to me for advice on relationships," House knocked Wilson gently on the head. "I gave unsolicited advice – as usual – and Chase took it, which is why Cameron didn't get any last night and she is glaring at Chase who in turn is glaring at me."

"You mean Chase didn't get any and that is why he is glaring at you," Wilson corrected.

"No, I mean Cameron didn't get any, and that is why she is glaring at Chase," House told him.

"You lost me," Wilson gave up.

"You need to pay attention, man," House sighed. "I told Chase that Cameron wants to get pregnant so when she suggests he doesn't need to use a condom he should refuse. Last night when they left work they were planning to have sex. This morning they glared at each other in icy silence until I got there and then Chase started to stare at me. See, simple." House shrugged and went through to the conference room. Wilson had to practically jog to keep up with him. This he was not going to miss.

Kasumii was back with Aiko, too and they were in the conference room. They had been in the maternity ward getting Aiko's daily dose of breast milk. Aiko was asleep and once House had kissed her on the cheek Kasumii took her to the office to sleep in the crib.

Cameron was standing at the window looking out and drinking coffee. Chase was at the table doing a crossword puzzle and Foreman was sitting at the end looking totally fed up. It seemed that he had unwillingly found himself in the middle of it all. He even looked relieved to see House enter the room, though he was fairly sure that somehow all this was House's fault – he had looked way too smug in the morning as he got to work and saw how things were with Chase and Cameron.

"So kiddies, is the Ice Age still here or have you learned to play nice?" House asked as he entered.

"We are perfectly capable of doing our jobs," Cameron told him with a blast from the Arctic. "That is if you would take a case that would give us something to do instead of just hanging around doing nothing."

"Brr," House shuddered. "Sex-deprivation makes her really snippy." House said in an aside to Chase. Cameron turned fully around and gave Chase a glare that should have turned him to stone.

"You told him!" She gasped. "Him! Of all people!"

"I didn't," Chase insisted. Foreman was suddenly all attention – this looked like it could get interesting.

"Oh come on," House scoffed. "Why would he need to tell me something that is written all over you in bold letters? It's obvious that your plans were upset and he did the upsetting."

"Why are you taking such an interest in them and their problems?" Foreman asked curiously.

"Because their little drama is interfering with the smooth running of my department," House explained. "I don't care if they have sex all over the place – even in the lab," that got Chase and Cameron's attention; they had thought nobody knew! "But when these goings on start to interfere with their work, I will take interest. Like it or not."

"This is not interfering with anything," Cameron insisted. "If we had work to do, we would do it. We are professional enough to set aside whatever differences we have."

"Doesn't seem that way," House pointed out. "Besides, if you do get _accidentally on purpose_ pregnant, then that will definitely interfere with the smooth running of this department. You cannot just nip off for two weeks and come back with a baby. No, you need maternity leave and what not and nobody would sort my mail or make the coffee when you are away. I cannot have that."

Cameron had stared at him almost with her mouth open: "You! It was you who put that idea into his head."

"Well I couldn't let you just ambush him with it," House claimed. "You know it is bros before hos. In my opinion he really should have a say in it before you start a production line for wombats. They are his little swimmers, you know."

"You..." Words were failing Cameron. "You just had to interfere. I thought that Aiko had softened you up a little, made you almost human, but no. You are the same jerk you have always been. You just cannot leave people alone to live their lives the way they want; find some contentment or happiness without you interfering in it. I should have known! Chase would never have believed anything like that about me on his own. I should have known it was your idea, that you had ... You are such a jerk!" Cameron stormed out of the office.

"I think you may be in the clear here, if you play your cards right," House smugly told Chase. Chase didn't actually look very happy.

-------------

Later that day House found Cameron alone in the lab.

"I'm not talking to you," Cameron stated the moment he walked in.

"Good, I don't want you to," House said undisturbed. "I want you to listen." he walked to Cameron and forced her to look at him. "It's time you stop lying to yourself."

"I'm not lying to myself about anything," Cameron insisted. "I was not going to try to get pregnant and for you to think that..."

"That is not what I'm talking about," House told her. "At least no really. You need to think over your motives and intentions there, too, but you possibly wanting to get pregnant – or at least wanting to risk that – is not the point of my visit. You need to start facing your feelings for Chase."

"What feelings?" Cameron asked. "We are friends. Sure we decided to be friends with benefits, but that's all. It's not like we would fall in love with each other."

"Now that is the lie I'm talking about," House pointed out to her. "You need to ask yourself why you chose Chase. Why was he the one you called when you got high? Why was he the one you decided would do as _Mr. Right-Now_? What it really is you feel for him? And you need to ask those questions now, before you go any further with him."

"Why?" Cameron asked defiantly.

"You think I hurt you, don't you?" House seemed to change the subject to Cameron's puzzlement. She nodded. "Well, I didn't really. I could have hurt you a lot more. But the point here is that you can hurt Chase a lot more than I ever could have hurt you. And that is why you need to stop lying to yourself, before it is too late."

House walked out of the lab leaving Cameron to stare after him in incomprehension.


	22. It’s not the cough

_Thank you again for your reviews! It's nice to know your opinions. Though, if you are going to stop reading because of Chameron, don't, they are on their way to the ice-box. And even Huddy will be more about their friendship than romance. Mind you, after this one, you may want to kill me anyway, no matter what kind of ship I write ... _:(

_Oh, and again normal medical caveats apply; its fiction don't expect it to be accurate, because it ain't._ :)

--------

One morning, when Aiko was about six weeks old, Kasumii found House already up and running when she got to work. House was dressed and he was packing a larger bag than what they usually used to transport Aiko's things.

"House-san?" Kasumii asked. "What has happened? Is something wrong?"

"Aiko seems to have a cold," House explained a little distractedly.

"Do you want me to stay home with her then?" Kasumii ventured.

"No, no," House stopped whatever it was he was doing. "I don't know... I ... We will definitely take Aiko with us to the hospital. I want a second opinion anyway. I'm planning to spend the night in my office with her – just in case. I'm sure Cuddy will be happy to give you a lift home tonight and back to work tomorrow."

"You think it is something more than just a cold then?" Kasumii was worried.

"I don't know," House rubbed his forehead. "There is something about it that worries me – apart from the fact that Aiko's immune system is not yet fully developed and as with all babies there is a chance it will develop into something more serious. But I don't know if I'm worried because it's Aiko or because there really is something more to it than just a cold. But whichever it is, the best thing I can do is to wait till either she gets better or more symptoms show up. Right now it looks like a cold. But given my crippled state, I think I better make sure help is near if she does get worse."

"Ok," Kasumii nodded still worried but at least there was a plan in place. "I better see that Aiko has all her things with her then. Do you need any help with anything else? And I can stay with you tonight, if you want."

"Thanks," House gave her a small smile. "I've got everything I need. And you better just go home with Cuddy tonight. I'll be fine with Aiko. Besides, if she does get sicker she needs to be admitted anyway and then on the ward the staff will look after her."

"Ok, if you are sure," Kasumii said, though she had her fingers crossed. If there was any sign whatsoever that Aiko was going to get worse, she was staying in the hospital with House, no matter what he said.

--------------------

Aiko was obviously not feeling well. She had a runny nose and some fever she was listless and also cranky. And she would absolutely not sleep anywhere but against House – either in his arms or wrapped against his chest. Not that House minded; in fact it seemed that he was absolutely loath to let go of her. He did give her to Kasumii for feeding and changing, and he did let go of her long enough for Chase to check her.

"I can't see what else it could be but a cold," Chase said after his examination. "But there is something in the lungs... the sounds are just not ... I can't explain but I think you are absolutely right in thinking that this might be something else or at least develop into something else."

"I suppose I ought to be patting myself on the back for having been right once again," House remarked with deep irony. "Somehow I don't feel like doing that though. So we are definitely staying in the office for tonight, then."

"I'll stay with you," Chase said. "I promised to be on call for NICU anyway, I may as well stay close as there is nothing waiting for me at home."

"No Cameron?" House tried to distract himself.

"No," Chase informed House. "We decided to go back to being just friends, at least for the time being. Your lecture on stopping the lies made us think and we decided that before we end up drifting into a situation we can't handle we better find out what it really is we want. Both from life in general and from each other specifically. We do know that we want to be friends, so we are starting with that."

"Surprisingly sensible of you two," House commented.

"You scared some sense into us," Chase said almost self-mockingly. "Cameron said that you could have been right about her wanting a baby, even if she was not consciously aware of it."

"Duh!"

"We had to face the possibility that if you hadn't interfered we might have got ourselves into a real mess," Chase mused. "And the baby would have been right in the middle of it all. So we figured that we need to step back and think first. And that is what we are doing."

"Well, at least you are free for Aiko, should she need you," House remarked dryly.

"You know perfectly well that we are, all of us, always free for Aiko," Chase told House seriously. "She is family." House paused for a moment to look Chase in the eyes. He seemed to digest something for a moment but then he nodded accepting Chase's words.

------------------------------

"How's Aiko?" Cuddy asked as she walked into House's office.

"No change so far," House replied, rocking the sleeping baby in his arms. "Neither Chase nor I can yet identify what it was we heard in her lungs that we didn't like, but we both think there is something."

"So you are staying here for tonight?" Cuddy asked.

"Yes," House nodded.

"Is there anything you need? I could stay with you, if you want," Cuddy offered coming closer to look at Aiko.

"Thank you," House said. "But Chase is on call for NICU and he is staying here with us. We're fine."

"Ok. You know that if you need anything you only need to ask," Cuddy told him.

"I know," House acknowledged. "But right now there is nothing we can do but wait for time to march on." He sighed. He looked up at Cuddy: "But how are you? Now that there are no prying ears around."

"I think I'm ok, more or less," Cuddy said. "I got a prescription for a mild sedative from my Ob-Gyn and I'm seeing Angie for stress management. You and Wilson were right; she can help me."

"So you are getting your stress under control?" House inquired.

"More or less," Cuddy nodded.

"I know you fear that you will miscarry again, but what freaked you out so totally?" House was curious.

"I hadn't expected to get pregnant straight away," Cuddy confessed. "When I accepted your offer it was more because I needed to do something positive, something to confirm my decision to try again, something to almost test my resolve. As I told you the next day, I did not regret my decision; but I was quite convinced that I would need to try again – either with you or then to go back to the clinic. I freaked out because I wasn't mentally prepared for success. This still feels too good to be true."

"But you don't regret letting _A. Nonymous_ do the donating?" House smiled.

Cuddy had to laugh a little: "No, I don't regret having made _his_ acquaintance. Do you? I mean is it ok with you that I'm having your child?"

"I wouldn't have offered had I not been ok with it," House confirmed.

"Once we can be fairly sure that I'm not going to miscarry, we need to talk," Cuddy told him.

"If you want," House replied easily. "I told you that I will help as you have promised to help with Aiko, but I'm ok with it all happening on your terms."

"That is very generous of you," Cuddy observed.

"Or selfish," House offered. "I rather have my hands full – currently quite literally – with just one child. I'm quite happy to leave the main responsibility of your baby to you."

"Thank you," Cuddy was surprised, but she felt she could actually believe House; he had changed since Aiko came along – and yet on some level he had stayed just the same. The problem was that she didn't know now when she was faced with the old and when the new House. It got a little confusing sometimes. "I hope you and Chase are both wrong about Aiko and it really is just a cold."

--------

House was supposed to have his physical therapy that day, too, but he called to cancel. When he told why, Grey told him not to worry, they could easily reschedule. However, at the time when House was supposed to have been in therapy, Grey came into his office.

"As you cancelled, I had this time free so I thought I might as well check up on you," Grey shrugged at House's questioning glance when he walked in. "How is Aiko?"

"Same, fever is down with medication, but she is not getting better," House said.

"Sorry to hear that," Grey sympathised. "Ms. Tanaka told me that she won't sleep except when you hold her. How is your leg holding up? You usually move more than you can do now."

"I haven't really noticed," House frowned. "Maybe it hurts a little more than it has for a while, but it's not that bad."

"Would Aiko sleep if someone else held her?" Grey asked. "If so, I could give you a massage to relax the muscles a little."

"Tried that," House revealed. "She lets Kasumii hold her for a short time, but not to sleep and right now she won't let anyone else really hold her at all without fretting."

"Ok then," Grey accepted. "If that is the case, then that's it. She does come first. But if there is anything I can do to help, page me."

"Thank you," House said. "It seems Officer Martin was right; Aiko does have a much bigger family than at first meets the eye."

"You know," Grey paused on his way out to observe. "It is not just Aiko who has more family than you think." He then walked into the conference room to spend the rest of his unexpected free hour with the ducklings and Kasumii.

------------------

Later in the evening House and Chase were the only ones left in the office. Both Foreman and Cameron had offered to stay, too, but House had told them to go home. Wilson had stopped by, too, but he had already been up the previous night with one of his own, so House had told him that thanks but no thanks. Until something happened there was nothing they could do, and if nothing happened it was pointless to keep them all awake.

Chase had gone to get them something to eat and House was sitting in his recliner with Aiko in his arms. He listened to her breathing; he was fairly sure it had changed in the last half an hour or so, but he didn't want to disturb her while she slept so he hadn't listened to her lungs yet. He expected her to wake up fairly soon, though and he was going to be ready with his stethoscope.

Chase had just come back with coffee and sandwiches when Aiko woke up coughing. House lifted her to rest against his shoulder and rubbed her back. He exchanged glances with Chase; it seemed that time was indeed marching on: this was a new symptom.

"Her breathing has sounded more laboured for a while now," House told Chase. "Though she was still able to sleep until now."

"The cold has definitely descended into her lungs," Chase agreed taking out his stethoscope. "It could still be just a cough to go with her cold, but ..."

"You too think that it could be pneumonia," House finished for him. Aiko stopped coughing and House lifted her away from his shoulder. As he looked at her and saw the towel that was protecting his clothes, he froze.

"House? What is it?" Chase asked anxiously.

"She is coughing blood," House answered tonelessly.

"How much," Chase turned pale.

"Not much, just a few flecks," House told him. "But it is definitely blood and it is definitely coming from her lungs."

"Right, I'm calling the NICU to get a bed ready and then we are taking her there," Chase was on the phone even as he spoke.

Fifteen minutes later they were all in the NICU and getting Aiko's chest X-rayed. As they waited Chase also paged Cameron, Foreman, Cuddy and Wilson. He sent them just one word: Aiko.


	23. The Epidemic

_Oops! Thank you for the reviews, even if some of them were a little threatening (I'm officially in hiding as of now on). But, as I do have some extra time off this week, I will update at least once more before week-end (not that that will help a lot, since this part of the story will take quite a few episodes)._

_The suggestion of a Beta may have merit, but I'm a little too old and set in my ways to work well with someone else, so sorry: this is it, warts and all._

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House and Chase were just looking at Aiko's x-rays when the rest of the _family_ got to the NICU.

"You paged them all?" House asked Chase.

"They are family, they deserve to be here," Chase shrugged. "Besides we always work together."

"So what is the situation?" Cuddy took charge.

"Aiko definitely has pneumonia," Chase told her. "Her fever is spiking, she has a cough and she is also coughing up some blood with the mucus from her lungs. She seems to have some pain in her limbs, we are not quite sure if it is joint pain or muscle pain but the joints are showing some stiffness. It could also be both joints and muscles, but as Aiko cannot tell us herself we have to make do with what we can see. She has also started to sweat. And pretty much all of this has happened within the last hour."

"That's fast," Wilson frowned. "She only had a cold this morning."

"It wasn't just a cold," House growled. "We heard something in her lungs we just didn't think it was enough to merit an x-ray. I failed her. I should have done something sooner."

"We were, neither one of us, sure what it was we heard," Chase told him in surprisingly authoritative voice. "Had it been anyone but Aiko, we probably wouldn't have noticed anything at all. Had we not been listening to her normal breathing for so long by now, we would have put that slight, barely there oddness we heard down to the cold. It certainly was not bad enough for me to suggest an x-ray at that point. Besides, I'm fairly sure we wouldn't have seen anything earlier. And I sure don't like putting babies through x-rays unnecessarily. I know it's as safe as possible these days, but it is still radiation!"

"Are you patronising me?" House asked mildly and a little distractedly since he was still studying the images taken of Aiko's chest.

"No," Chase stated. "It's just that in this case I'm the doctor and you are the parent."

That got House's attention. He frowned at Chase for a moment but then he had to nod. He knew he could not be his daughter's doctor, it would be unethical (not that that mattered so much to him) and it was more than likely that his emotions would get in the way here. In the six weeks of her life, Aiko had pretty much become his world.

"Ok," House said. "If you think you can deal with that."

"Rather me than someone who has no experience in dealing with you at all," Chase pointed out.

"So, Doctor, what have you to say about my daughter then," House invited.

"Viral pneumonia is the likeliest alternative with babies, but I'm not quite happy with that answer. I don't think it is bacterial, but I want to do a culture for that anyway," Chase said studying the x-ray. "The image could indicate fungal pneumonia, too, and the other symptoms are consistent with that, as well. I'll get that culture started from the mucus, too. The problem with fungi, though, is that it takes a rather long time to get test results."

"And even then, they tend to be uncertain," House agreed.

"I'll take Cameron and we start swabbing your home. Foreman and Wilson can check your office," Cuddy informed House.

"Whoa! You are not going anywhere," House stopped her. "Mould is not healthy for pregnant women either."

"I'll use a protective mask and take every precaution," Cuddy told him. "But I am not sitting on the sidelines while Aiko is ill. I'll be fine, a little mould won't hurt me; especially not when I'll make sure I won't breathe any of it."

Before they got going, though, they saw another baby being wheeled in to the NICU. The nurse admitting the baby looked through the file and then looked up to beckon Chase to her. Chase went to see what the matter was and the others felt compelled to wait for his return. They didn't have to wait for long.

"We have another baby with the same symptoms," Chase announced as he got back.

"That means it cannot be fungal," Foreman pointed out.

"Not necessarily," House disagreed. "It could be a coincidence. Aspergillus for one isn't that uncommon. Anyway, we need to be sure. Foreman, take Cameron and swab their home, Cuddy and Wilson can do mine. We'll do the office later. And look for other possible causes besides mould as well! Let's not fix a diagnosis before we have something to fix it with."

---------------------

By morning they hadn't found anything, not in House's home, not in the home of Baby Jones – or in the homes of the other two babies and one small child that had been admitted before the night was over. In addition to Aiko, they had now four other patients with the same symptoms: Jenna Jones eight weeks, Maria Perez seven weeks, James Cohen twelve weeks and William Niven four years.

"So it's not just babies," House said as he wrote the symptoms they had on the whiteboard – though he could not be Aiko's doctor, there was nothing stopping him from taking on the other children. Especially as this looked like a mystery and those – in addition to infectious deceases – were his specialty. "Is there anything about the child – uhm..."

"William," Foreman told him.

"Yes, William, is there anything about him that could make us group him with the babies?" House asked.

"He has asthma," Cameron said. "That means that he is immunocompromised."

"Like the babies who don't have a fully developed immune system as yet," House agreed. "That, however means that whatever this is, it could endanger all immunocompromised people, including aids-, cancer-, organ transplant patients and possibly the elderly. Let's find out what this is before we have a wide-spread epidemic. Do any of the patients know each other? Have any location in common?"

"All the babies are our babies," Cuddy said. "They were delivered here and they use our clinic. The Niven's, however, have just moved here a month ago. They have a family doctor, and he is associated with us; that is why he was brought here now, but this is the first time William or his parents have been in PPTH. And Aiko is different again, the only place she has been in where the other babies have been, too, is the maternity ward, but the timing isn't right. Besides you know I have been totally anal about the maternity ward since the scare we got couple of years ago."

"Do you think all our patients are connected?" Wilson asked. "One of them could be just a coincidence, especially if it is a viral or bacterial infection."

"I don't want to see any coincidences here," House said. "That widens the search too much. This whole thing is bizarre, but that is good, because once we find a common denominator we have almost certainly found the right one. There are not too many explanations for bizarre. If we assume even one is a coincidence we just end up with fewer facts."

"Right now we have no facts at all," Cameron complained.

"We have four sick babies and one sick child," Chase stated. "You don't get much more factual than that. Can we find out if there have been similar cases where ever it was that the Nivens moved here from?"

"I can certainly find out," Cuddy said. "Though if there had been an epidemic I'm sure it would have been reported."

"They might not have realised that it was an epidemic they had, especially if the cases were not all in the same hospital or close enough to each other," House pointed out. "Which reminds me, Cuddy, you better check with Princeton General, too, in case they have similar cases. And check for immunocompromised adults as well!"

"Any idea how much time we have with this?" Foreman asked.

"As we don't know what this is; no," House told him. "But if it progresses as fast as it started, I don't think we have much time. Probably the most we can hope for is 48 hours, though William, being older, might have more time." House told them. His pronouncement echoed in their minds like a sound of doom: 48 hours and they might need to get used to life without Aiko. An idea they all found unbearable; and they didn't even dare to think what it was doing to House. They all looked at him, but he had turned his back to them and nothing in his stance told them anything.

"Do we have any timeline for when they might have got the infection?" Cuddy forced the question out of her dry throat.

"If there have been no previous incidents in the area where the Nivens came from, then within the last month," House replied in his normal voice, but he still would not look at the others. "If it is a virus or bacteria then it's likely they got it within the last two weeks. Fungal pneumonia, on the other hand, takes usually anything from two-three weeks to four maybe even five months, but given the age of the babies and the time William and Aiko have been here, four weeks should cover that possibility too."

"Ok, we have to find out everything they have done, every place they have been to in the last four weeks," Wilson piped in. "The more information we have, the better. Come on Foreman, we can go do that. I don't think House has any other use for a neurologist and an oncologist right now. An intensivist and an immunologist are probably more useful here for the moment."

"I'll go and make the phone calls," Cuddy said leaving with Wilson and Foreman.

As they left the diagnostics room Kasumii came in with David Grey.

"We got the visa fixed," Kasumii told House. "Dr. Higa got it at the airport. He will be here this afternoon."

"**We** got the visa?" House raised an interested eyebrow at Kasumii's words.

"She called me for help," Grey responded. "I had bragged about my mother, after all. She had enough connections to get the thing done."

"Thank you," House said quietly.

"No need to thank me," Grey said sincerely. "I know I'm sort of a late-comer to this group, but anything I can do for Aiko, you only have to say."

"He is also giving me a lift for when I meet Dr. Higa at the airport," Kasumii explained. "That way Dr. Cuddy can stay here with you and Aiko."

"Thanks, Kasumii-san," House nodded. "I hadn't even given any thought to who would meet him, I'm glad you did."

"Hey, I'm useless with any of this medical stuff," Kasumii said. "Your first priority is Aiko and the rest of the children. I can take care of the mundane things. At least it gives me something to do besides just worry. And that reminds me, have any of you had anything to eat besides coffee and animal crackers?"

"I think somebody got some bagels sometime during the night," House responded distractedly.

"That's what I thought," Kasumii said, assuming that that meant that House himself hadn't had anything but coffee. And even for the rest of them, bagels went only so far.

"Come on Grey," Kasumii said. "Next thing on the list: some decent food and drink."

"Grey," House suddenly stopped them before they got out. He didn't even turn around to say. "I expect you to return her in original condition. I have every intention of needing a nanny for quite some time still."

"Don't worry House," Grey answered a little gruffly. "I'm just admiring the scenery. Aiko will have her back in absolutely pristine condition in a day or two." Then he escorted Kasumii out.

"Right, then," House turned to the remaining ducklings with him. "Chase, Cameron – any suggestions for a course of action while we wait for test results?"

"Treat the symptoms for now," Chase said. "If it is a virus that is pretty much the only thing we can do anyway."

"But we cannot just sit and wait!" Cameron insisted. "Can't we test for possible viruses? There might be an experimental treatment for it or something."

"We cannot test for every virus there is," House sighed. "And before we know what it does, we cannot narrow it down to eight possibilities. Even though we are not dealing with newborns this time, I don't think that we can take more than ten vials of blood from each for testing. That still leaves us with needing to know more before we can narrow the field down."

"So we just wait?" Cameron fretted.

"Unless they get worse or show new symptoms that help us narrow things down, yes. We just wait." House agreed.

"But what if it's bacterial? Shouldn't we treat for that, just in case?" Cameron wanted to know.

"I wouldn't advice it," Chase gave his opinion. "Not unless the children get a lot worse. As we found out the last time, the antibiotics that cover most bacteria are Vancomycin and Aztreonam but they can cause kidney failure, which could put the children in a worse position than they are now."

"I'm with Chase on this one," House said. "If they get worse, we may have to try antibiotics, but for now we treat symptoms. But anything new, a new symptom, new information, new patient, anything; get me immediately."

"You'll be with Aiko?" Cameron asked.

"Yes, just in the next room from the other children." House confirmed. He limped out of the room.

"If we don't find a cure..." Chase couldn't finish his thought.

"We will," Cameron insisted. "We have to."


	24. Loved ones

_Thank you for the reviews, but I'm still in hiding ;D_

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House had been in Aiko's room for over two hours. He hadn't been there alone much, the rest of Aiko's _family_ visited as often as they could, the ducklings keeping him up to date with the other patients. Kasumii had also been there with a large smoothie that she insisted House drink – she had actually stood over him until he had downed at least half of it (while he half-heartedly complaned that she was Aiko's Nanny, not his). But even so, he was alone. He sat by Aiko's bed singing softly to her and touching her; holding her hand, caressing her face – what he could around the oxygen mask, counting her toes and fingers (this little piggy...), talking to her and letting her know any way he could that she was not alone.

Though House seemed to be totally absorbed with Aiko, his brain was as active as always when he was trying to figure out a puzzle. But there was so little to go on. Aiko had fallen asleep, possibly soothed by House's heartbeat that was coming from his iPod again, and House decided he really should go have a shower and change his clothes – not that he was that particular about things like that but he figured it would wake him up, maybe even give him a chance to come back to the puzzle with a fresh perspective. Besides, Dr. Higa was on his way, and House did want to look at least half way presentable. Before he had actually made up his mind about leaving Aiko's side, he heard a commotion outside the room. He went to investigate and tell whoever it was making the rucus to pipe it down.

"I demand to see this Dr. House," House heard a man's voice as he came out of Aiko's room.

"Ask, and ye shall receive," House said as he closed the door. "So who is taking my name in vain?"

"This is Mr. Jones," Chase, who had been trying to calm the man down, told House. "His daughter was brought here last night with pneumonia." Cameron and Foreman were with him, too, but they were equally unsuccessful in trying to control Mr. Jones.

"I see," House nodded. "Mr. Jones. You do know that this hospital if full of sick people and their loved ones, who might find your rucus irritating."

"I don't give a damn about your sick people and their loved ones," Jones insisted.

"I can relate to that," House mused, earning a worried look from Chase. The words were typical House, but something was missing in the delivery. "I don't give much of a damn either of sick people or their loved ones. However, it is considered rude to say so, at least as loudly as you are doing now. Since I assume that the reason you wanted to see me was not to inform me of our mutual disinterest I suggest we remove this conversation to some place where we won't disturb all these sick people and their loved ones." House limped towards his office at his usual speed. Mr. Jones had to nearly run to keep up with him. The ducklings followed exchanging worried glances. House was unpredictable even at the best of times, and this was not even a moderately good time.

House led them into the diagnostics conference. "So what was it you wanted of me?" House asked Mr. Jones.

"I want to know why you are not treating my daughter!" Jones told him.

"We're not?" House wondered. "Chase? Cameron? Explain this not-treating."

"We are treating the symptoms," Chase said.

"Baby Jones is getting fluids, oxygen, drugs to lower her fever and pain killers for the pain." Cameron explained.

"See, we are treating her," House pointed out. "And you didn't even need me to answer your question."

"I know you are treating her symptoms," Jones growled. "What I want to know is why aren't you curing her!"

"That _ask and ye shall receive_ – thing I said, that was a joke," House admitted. "In truth, I'm not God. I'm not even one of the lesser apostles."

"My mother had pneumonia last year," Jones fumed. "She got antibiotics and in two weeks she was fine. Why are you not doing that with my daughter?"

"Because we don't know what kind of pneumonia she has," House said tiredly. "Adults usually get pneumonia from _Streptococcus pneumoniae_. Once the kids start school they, too usually get bacterial pneumonia, though theirs is mostly caused by _Mycoplasma pneumoniae_. Both of these can be treated with antibiotics. However, babies and pre-schoolers typically get viral pneumonia, which cannot be treated with antibiotics. Most viruses have no treatment at all. It is also possible that the pneumonia is caused by mould of some kind, but until we know what kind of pneumonia your child has, we wait and treat the symptoms." 

"Have you any idea what it is like to just **wait**!" Jones shouted. "My daughter's life is at stake here, how the bloody Hell do you expect me to just wait!"

"Sir," Foreman intervened. "Right now that is what we all do. It's not easy, I'm not saying it is ..."

"Shut up!" Jones told him. "You don't care, you don't know, you don't have a child there fighting for every breath, burning up and spitting up blood! Don't give me platitudes about understanding when you have no idea!"

"We are not supposed to _understand_," House said. "We are supposed to do tests, gather information and then treat. If we are all lucky, we find a treatment that cures the patient."

"And if you're not lucky?" Jones asked bitterly.

"We are doctors," House gave Jones an ironic smile. "We bury our mistakes." House turned to go into his office.

"You bastard!" Jones shouted. He would have attacked House had the ducklings, even Cameron, not restrained him. "That's my daughter you are talking about!"

House paused with a hand on his door: "No, actually it is not **your** daughter I'm talking about," he sighed quietly.

The ducklings turned to him in shock: "Aiko?" Cameron breathed the name.

House looked at them briefly: "No change," he shook his head trying to clear his thoughts. "Didn't mean to scare you. I'm sorry." He went into his office closing the door behind him.

"Aiko? Who is that?" Jones asked in puzzled belingerence. He took a better look of the office House had disappeared to through the blinds. "He has a crib in his office. Why?"

"I'm sorry, but Dr. House is a very private man I will not talk about his personal business. Look, we really are doing everything we can for your daughter," Foreman told the man before Cameron ended up telling him more than House probably wanted. "Come, let me take you back to her. Dr. House may appear uncaring, but he really is a dedicated doctor and he is also the best doctor you could find for your daughter."

Jones was not totally convinced but he agreed to let Foreman lead him out of the room. That left Cameron and Chase standing together outside House's office.

"What now?" Cameron wondered. "Should we check that he is alright?"

"He is not alright," Chase pointed out. "He will never be alright again if anything happens to Aiko. Look, why don't you make some coffee and check his email or something, that way you have a legitimate reason for hanging in here. I'll go and see if we have any useful test results yet."

"Ok," Cameron nodded. "I'll call Kasumii, too, and see how soon she will be back with Dr. Higa."

"Right, see you in an hour or so," Chase said leaving the room.

-------------------------------------

On his way back from the lab (no results as yet) Chase made a detour. He went into the Chapel. He didn't look around, just went to sit in a pew. It had been awhile again since he had last been here, or done any praying but he didn't know what else to do. He hadn't said the rosary in a very long time, but old habits die hard; he didn't need to dig very deep into his mind before the old routine came back. He made the Sign of the Cross, said Apostles' Creed, Our Father, the three Hail Marys, Glory be to the Father. As it was a Tuesday he announced the first of the five Sorrowful mysteries – at which point he also realised why he had felt the need to do this; he had turned to the Sorrowful Mysteries for strength before, too. He said the next ten Hail Marys meditating on the Agony in the Garden, then Glory be to the Father and then he went on to the next Sorroful Mystery.

Chase wasn't sure how long he had been in the Chapel, but finally he lifted his head and stood up with a sigh. It was only then that he saw he was not alone. There was a woman there, too. He recognised her as Mrs. Jones the wife of the irritated Mr. Jones and mother of baby Jenna.

"You are Dr. Chase," Mrs. Jones recognised him, too. "You are one of the doctors who are trying to find what is wrong with my daughter."

"Yes," Chase acknowledged. "I just wish we had found the answers already. I'm sorry there is so little we can do yet."

"I know you are doing everything you can," Mrs. Jones told him. "But it is very hard to just wait when your child is ill. But I want to apologise for my husband. He is used to doing or telling people to do, he really cannot stand just waiting and not having any control over things."

"We have had worse," Chase replied quietly. "At least he didn't hit any of us."

"Has that happened?" Mrs. Jones gasped.

"Dr. House is not what you might call a people person," Chase prevaricated.

"Is that always so or just now?" Mrs. Jones asked.

"Why would it be just now?" Chase asked warily.

"I heard about his daughter," Mrs. Jones revealed. "I didn't tell my husband,- though I now regret it -, because I got the impression that Dr. House is very private person. The nurse who let it slip looked totally appalled when she realised what she had said."

"Yes, Dr. House is a very private person," Chase nodded. "If you could keep, whatever it was you heard, to yourself that would be good."

"I will," Mrs. Jones agreed. "But if I include his daughter in my prayers, too, he surely won't mind?"

"As long as he doesn't know about it," Chase smiled a little. "He is not that big on God, either."

"Yet you are here," Mrs. Jones pointed out. "Doesn't he know that you believe?"

"He knows I'm Catholic," Chase said. "He knows that I originally went to a Seminary. But even I don't know if I believe."

"Yes, sometimes it is very hard," Mrs. Jones nodded. "Very hard indeed. But in the end, you still come here to pray."

"But is it _just in case_, or because deep down I still believe?" Chase checked his watch and realised he had been gone over an hour. "I have to get back to my work. I promise you Mrs. Jones, we are doing everything we can for your daughter."

---------------------

When Chase got back to the diagnostics Cameron was there alone. House had just taken a change of clothes from his office, gone to have a shower and then back to Aiko.

"How was he?" Chase asked.

"Same," Cameron said. "I don't think we will see any change in him until ... Until Aiko is well again."

"You could be right," Chase, too, refused to acknowledge any other possible outcome than that they would cure Aiko. If that was infringing on God's territory, he was just fine with it – hubris be damned.

"You didn't get anything out of the tests yet?" Cameron asked.

"No, we have to wait for at least an hour still," Chase shook his head. "But those results are not very reliable yet. We need more time."

"House did say that the illness is not progressing as fast as he feared," Cameron sighed. "He thinks that we might actually have more than the original 48 hours he first estimated."

"That's good," Chase felt slightly better. "I better go and check the patients again, then."

"Have some coffee and a sandwich first," Cameron ordered him. "Even House did, so you can too."

"Ok," Chase smiled and allowed Cameron to pour him some coffee. He sure needed the caffeine. "Did you get hold of Ms. Tanaka?"

"Yes, she said that they will be here soon," Cameron checked the time. "In half an hour I think. I just hope that having Dr. Higa here will help House cope."

"Yeah," Chase muttered into his mug sounding less than convinced.

"What do you mean _yeah_?" Cameron demanded.

"I hope that his presence will help House," Chase said. "But Aiko is his granddaughter, the last living member of his family. He only recently lost his only son, now Aiko is in danger. Are we sure he will not blame House? Say that he should have taken better care of Aiko?"

"He can't blame House!" Cameron was appalled. "He can't. ..."


	25. Dr Higa

_Thank you for the reviews. It will still be a few episodes before we know how things go with Aiko, but I write as fast as I can with the time I have (still have to work to make a living! Darn.)_

_Italics are again used to indicate when the conversation is in Japanese._

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Kasumii had met Dr. Higa at the airport. She had told Grey to be normally polite, just not expect any handshakes. She, however, greeted Dr. Higa with all the normal Japanese formality, speaking Japanese to him until it was time to introduce the men to each other. Grey gave Dr. Higa a formal bow, said the normal things about being honoured to meet him but sorry about the circumstances. After that they took the older man to the car and left him to sit alone at the back, while they sat in the front. Kasumii had given him a copy of Aiko's file that House had prepared.

Grey estimated Dr. Higa to be in his sixties, probably close to 65, though it was difficult to say for sure. His black hair was sprinkled with grey and his face was wrinkled with life: both joys and sorrows of it. He wasn't very tall, probably same as Dr. Cameron – sans the high heels. He wore a western suit, his hair was cut short and he spoke flawless English, though he didn't speak much: just the greetings, thanking Tanaka-san for meeting him and Grey-san for being so generous with his time. But nothing in his words, manner or expression – anything gave Grey even the slightest indication of what the man was feeling. He had to be worried, there was no way he couldn't be, but that was the only guess Grey dared to make. He didn't even dare to guess if he liked the man, and that he found odd, as House held Dr. Higa in such high esteem. But then, Dr. Foreman held House in the highest esteem as a doctor – otherwise he had quite a few problems with his boss.

Grey knew that Kasumii – in his mind he called her by her first name, though out loud he followed House's instructions and called her Ms. Tanaka – was worried. She feared that Dr. Higa was going to blame House for Aiko's illness. Not a completely unreasonable fear; Aiko was the only family Dr. Higa had left and he had given her to House to care for. But House blamed himself quite enough as it was; he didn't need – and indeed he didn't deserve – any more blame. He had done everything he could possibly do to protect Aiko, to cherish her, to care for her, to make her his beloved daughter. Grey thought that Aiko was aptly named: to see her – especially with her Father – was to love her.

They drove to the hospital in silence and Grey let Dr. Higa and Kasumii out of the car at the front door. Having parked the car he caught up with them before they got to Aiko's room. House was inside with the ducklings, they had been discussing something when Kasumii led Dr. Higa in. The normal courtesies and introductions ensued, after which the rest of them backed out of the room leaving House and Dr. Higa alone. They didn't go far. Chase and Foreman went into the next room to check up on the other children and Cameron, Kasumii and Grey stayed in the corridor. Grey leaned against the wall, but both women paced. It seemed they both worried about Dr. Higa's reaction to Aiko's illness, and especially how it was going to affect House.

In Aiko's room the two doctors stood watching the sleeping baby. The only sounds were the machines and House's heartbeat coming from the iPod. House stood a step further away from the bed letting Dr. Higa see his granddaughter for the first time in a month.

"_She has grown_," Dr. Higa said touching Aiko's hand with his finger, letting Aiko curl her own fingers around it. "_But she is still so small and fragile._"

"_I'm sorry. I failed her and you_," House said quietly.

"_Illness, accidents, they come when they come, we all feel responsible when something happens to our loved ones_," Dr. Higa answered. "_We don't know who has failed and at what until we know what is making her ill and how she got it_."

"_We are working on that, but so far we have been unsuccessful_," House told Higa. "_We got some test results back just now, and it is certain it's not bacterial pneumonia. It came on fast, but seems to slow down now, which to me suggests fungal rather than viral cause, but we haven't been able to find any source! We haven't been able to find any mould or other fungi in any of the locations we have searched. We cannot even find a place all the children have been to, which might give us something to look for. And just to complicate matters, Dr. Cuddy found out that there are three cases in Princeton General with same symptoms and those patients came from an old peoples' home. None of them have been away from there within the last three months_."

"_What do the patients have in common?"_ Dr. Higa asked.

"_Pretty much the only thing in common is that they are all immunocompromised, which suggests that one-time exposure may have been enough to cause this_," House rubbed his forehead tiredly. "_That of course makes it more difficult to find. I must know, somewhere in my mind, when Aiko got it, and how, because she hasn't been anywhere without me. I just cannot dig it up!_"

"_You will. You have to_," for the first time Dr. Higa's stoic demeanour broke and he showed the intensity of his worry and love for the little baby girl fighting for her life. The feelings came as no surprise for House, who had long ago learned to look for the hidden instead of the obvious.

"_Dr. Cuddy has arranged for you to stay in the hospital guest quarters for now, Higa-san, but there will be a bed here, in Aiko's room, too,_" House told Higa. "_You can choose where you want to be._"

"_But you are staying here, too?"_ Higa asked.

"_Yes_," House nodded. "_As will the rest of the so-called-family."_

"_What is that?"_ Higa asked.

"_It turns out that more people than I expected have decided to be part of Aiko's family_," House gave Higa a slightly rueful smile. "_My fellows: Doctors Cameron, Chase and Foreman; my physical therapist David Grey, you met him already, Doctors Wilson and Cuddy and of course Miss Tanaka, Aiko's Nanny. They have all informed me, that I have no right to tell them to go home until we have cured Aiko. You will meet them all soon, Higa-san_."

"_Yes, I suppose it is time that I meet your Dr. Cuddy_," Higa said. "_Especially as you have asked her to be Aiko's guardian should something happen to you._"

"_She may disagree about being mine, but yes, I think I better introduce you to her_," House agreed. "_Miss Tanaka will stay with Aiko, and I'm sure my fellows will check up on her regularly, too. And the other children who are in the next room._"

"_I want to see them, if I may_," Higa told House. "_I don't think you have missed anything, but just in case. New eyes just might see something new or different_."

"_Dr. Cuddy is happy for me to bring in anyone I want,_" House assured him. "_Our only priority is to find what is wrong with our patients and give them the best treatment possible_."

They left Aiko reluctantly, but if they wanted to find out what they could do for her, the answers were not in her room. Once they got into the corridor they found that Cuddy and Wilson were waiting for them there so House was able to do the introductions immediately. Cuddy also gave her approval to Dr. Higa examining the patients.

"Dr. Foreman took the case histories," House told Dr. Higa. "He will present the cases for you."

"Thank you, Gregory," Higa nodded and followed Foreman into the patient room. House went in too, but he stood aside and just listened.

The rest of the family stayed in the corridor.

"What happened in Aiko's room?" Cameron asked worriedly. "I can't read them at all."

"Dr. Higa can't be blaming Dr. House about this, at least not yet," Kasumii said. "He would not have used Dr. House's first name just now if he did."

"Are you sure?" Cuddy wanted to know. She had been as worried for House as the rest of them.

"Yes," Kasumii insisted. "He may be reserving judgement until we know how Aiko got it, but in Japan you use first names only within family or with very close friends."

"That should be ok, then," Wilson mused. "There is no way any of this could be House's fault, so when we find out what it is and House cures her, all will be well." Like the rest of the family – with the possible exception of House himself – Wilson was determined to see only one possible outcome for Aiko's illness. House would find out what it was and it was going to be curable.

Once Dr. Higa had seen all the patients Kasumii stayed with Aiko and the doctors in the family (Grey had had to go back to his work) went into the diagnostics to discuss the situation. They agreed that the symptoms did indeed fit a fungal pneumonia, though viral cause could not be excluded either, not completely. They had run tests for four most likely viruses, but the results were negative. The first results for possible fungi would not be ready for another 24 hours, and those results were not completely reliable and would not tell the specific fungus.

Once the meeting was over Cuddy insisted that Dr. Higa and House get some rest.

"Come on Cuddy," House didn't like the suggestion. "You can't send us to bed like some children. We need to ..."

"No, you don't need to do anything right now," Cuddy told him. "You and Dr. Higa are the two people that Aiko needs most. The rest of us can collapse left and right, no problem, but you need to take care of yourselves as well. I'm not even sending you home, just find a bed or a couch or what not and have a nap, just half an hour or so. You'll wake up refreshed and who knows, your subconscious might even have come up with something useful. At least you have given me that excuse often enough when I have found you napping in the exam rooms."

"_Your own sword?_" Dr. Higa asked House with a small smile.

"_Hai_," House acknowledged. "Fine, Cuddy, fine. But..."

"If anything changes with Aiko, anything at all, we will find you immediately," Cameron promised. Defeated House followed Cuddy who was showing Dr. Higa where the hospital guest quarters were.

------------------------

Couple of hours later Chase and Foreman were alone in the diagnostics department. Chase was reading up on fungi and Foreman was going over the patient histories to find something, anything to give them a clue. They both looked up as Dr. Higa walked in.

"Can we help you with anything, sir?" Foreman asked.

"Thank you Dr. Foreman," Higa replied. "I was looking for something to drink. Dr. House told me you usually have coffee going here."

"Yes, Dr. Cameron just made some," Chase said going to the machine. "Or there is tea in the thermos, too. Miss Tanaka made some just a few minutes ago?"

"Tea would be nice, thank you Dr. Chase," Higa accepted and Chase poured a mug for him.

"Do you take sugar or I think Miss Tanaka has some honey here, too?" Chase asked but Higa shook his head. "Probably not quite what you are used to at home, but it's the best we can do here." Chase apologised as he brought the mug to Dr. Higa who had sat down at the table.

"I'm sure it is fine, thank you," Higa accepted. "You are very kind. I could have served myself, thank you. You have all been very obliging to me here."

"You are Aiko's grandfather," Foreman pointed out. "That gets you pretty much anything in this hospital."

"Dr. House did say you were all part of Aiko's sort of family," Higa smiled politely.

"I think that is as good a description as any," Foreman acknowledged. "Aiko is important to us all. And it's not because she is important to Dr. House, she has captivated us all. I know she is only six weeks old and it's easy to over-interpret her expressions and the few sounds she makes, but we are sure she recognises us all. Of course, she does know House there is no doubt about that. There are times when she will refuse to be held by anyone but him, and he is the one who always makes her smile, now that she's got the hang of it."

"She has been happy, then?" Higa wanted to know.

"She has been loved," Chase replied. "Unconditionally. We, none of us, could have pictured Dr. House as a Father few months ago, and when he came back with Aiko, we were all flabbergasted. It felt like we had stepped into a parallel universe. But now, having watched him be a father to Aiko for the last month it's like he had always been meant to be her Father. She is the centre of his Universe. And pretty much ours, too."

"So if you are wondering did you make the right choice when you gave Aiko to Dr. House," Foreman concluded. "I don't know, but I can tell you that you made a good choice."

"You like Dr. House," Higa asked in a slightly humorous tone.

"I'm not sure like is a word you can use in association with Dr. House," Chase mused.

"Yeah, like is not the word I would use," Foreman admitted. "I respect him, but he is a difficult man to know and even to work with. He is demanding, acerbic, doesn't suffer fools and he is the best doctor I have ever worked with. I don't actually know what I feel towards him, but he is important. Possibly the only way to describe it is that he is sort of family. That might also explain why we all sort of adopted Aiko, too, the moment she got here."

"So you adopted Aiko **too**," Higa mused. "Interesting choice of expression. But it also shows that you were probably right in believing that my choice was a good one." Higa had finished his tea and he stood up to leave. "Thank you for the tea gentlemen."


	26. Time marches on

_In case any of you want to find a big club and stand over my burrow expecting me to poke my head out; don't bother, I'm not poking. And you can take that as an Angst-warning._

-------------------

Late afternoon Wilson had finally had enough and he dragged House (nearly kicking and screaming – well not really, but you get the idea) to Grey to have a massage and some targeted exercises for his leg. After that he took both House and Dr. Higa to have something to eat from the cafeteria. They chose to sit outside though it was a little cold, but the sun was shining and they found a nicely sheltered spot. Their arrival was noted, especially by hospital personnel, who started to wonder in whispers about Higa.

"There seems to be a bit of a reaction going," Higa noted to House raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Yeah," House acknowledged. "Sorry about that. It's me."

"They aren't used to seeing House behave respectfully towards anyone," Wilson clarified. "That makes you a bit of an oddity, Dr. Higa."

"I see," Higa nodded. "Makes me feel almost at home; though there the reason is different."

"We do our best to accommodate our visitors," House replied in similar ironically amused voice that Higa had used.

"I appreciate the consideration," Higa nodded, but then he continued sincerely: "Dr. Cuddy has certainly been very kind."

"I believe you have been told that Aiko is important to us all," Wilson pointed out. "As her grandfather you are a Very Important Person."

"Yes, Doctors Foreman and Chase already indicated that," Higa acknowledged. "It is good to know that she has more family than just two crusty old men to look after her. I especially like the Nanny you chose, Gregory, and Dr. Cuddy is a good choice too, for Aiko's guardian if needed."

"Not that I had a lot of choice, but I think she is the best," House agreed.

"I think it is nice that she will have a child, too. That will give Aiko a sort of a cousin or something to stop her from being an only child around," Higa said, causing Wilson to nearly choke on his sandwich. "When is she due, do you know?"

"She has been pregnant only three weeks or so now," House said. "If all goes well, she should have her baby somewhere towards the end of October."

"You told Dr. Higa about the baby?" Wilson asked surprised. "I'm not sure Lisa will like that."

"I didn't say anything," House told Wilson. "Why would I do something like that?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't realise it was a secret," Dr. Higa said regretfully. "It just was so obvious to me that she was expecting."

"Oh no!" Wilson sighed. "There are two of you."

"Where do you think I learned it all? But don't worry Wilson," House reassured his friend. "Dr. Higa is the soul of politeness."

"That would be going a little too far," Higa denied the description. "But when I choose to interact with people I do try to follow common courtesies."

"But when you choose not to?" Wilson questioned warily.

"I may be a little blunter than is commonly acceptable in my country," Dr. Higa admitted.

"That's what I thought," Wilson sighed. "House here, is like that, too. Of course, he is a **lot** blunter than is acceptable and he is that most of the time."

"But this is America," House pointed out. "In Japan people take a hint. Here, if you just hint that you want to get rid of someone they take it as an invitation. If you really want to kick someone to the curb you do need to be blunt in the extreme."

"That's what you always say," Wilson agreed. "But personally I don't believe you have ever even tried any but the bluntest possible methods."

"I see you haven't changed then," Dr. Higa noted. "And I tried so hard to teach you proper manners." He shook his head in understated humorous despair.

"I learned them," House stated. "I just choose to ignore them." He then admitted.

"And here I was thinking that the Japanese are the epitome of restraint, politeness and inscrutability," Wilson sighed, only to be met with two totally inscrutable looks from both his companions.

"And you were completely right," Dr. Higa told him.

"Why do I find that hard to believe," Wilson questioned, though he was actually very relieved that the two doctors were still able to insert some light-hearted banter into the day. At least it showed that they still had hope that Aiko was going to be ok.

----------------------

Once House and Dr. Higa had gone to have something to eat, Kasumii and Chase were left to watch over Aiko. They had been with Aiko for about half an hour and Chase was pretty sure the doctors would be back soon when Aiko suddenly vomited. Fortunately she didn't have an oxygen mask; it had been replaced with nasal cannula taped to place earlier on. But Chase still made sure that her airways were open and she hadn't inhaled any vomit. While cleaning her up and listening to her chest and heart he noticed that her neck was stiff and she obviously felt pain there when moved. Chase turned pale with fear and he called for help immediately. Foreman was just in the other room and he ran to Aiko the moment he heard Chase.

"I think she has meningitis," Chase told him. "Please check her, I want a second opinion. I'm paging House, too."

"I hope you are wrong, God I hope you are wrong," Foreman mumbled as he checked Aiko. It didn't take long; his shoulders drooped in defeat. "Yes, I'm sure it's meningitis. I'll get the portable MRI to confirm, but I'm sure. God!"

"What happened," House had got Chase's page when he and Dr. Higa had been almost in Aiko's room already. Cameron rushed in right after them, too.

"It looks like the illness has gone to Aiko's brains," Foreman informed him. He knew better than to try and present it gently. "I'm getting the portable MRI here to confirm but it looks like meningitis."

"So we have a new symptom," House noted mechanically going to Aiko and bending over her, touching her to make sure she was still alive; still with them.

"All the symptoms are pointing more and more to Gilchrist's disease," Chase said. "Except that it cannot be. Not in New Jersey, not indoors!"

"Gilchrist's disease?" Dr. Higa questioned.

"Blastomycosis," House clarified. "It's caused by _Blastomyces dermatitidis_. But as Chase said, you cannot get it indoors. The fungus lives in moist soil and usually needs decomposing organic debris. River beds, for one are likely places. It's endemic in some parts of south-central, mid-western States and also Canada. You can find in South America and parts of Africa, too, but not New Jersey. And you only catch it by breathing in the spores; usually when the soil has been disturbed. It is not contagious. You have to breathe in the actual spores to get it. It's almost impossible for it to become an epidemic!"

"Could it be a virus mimicking Blastomycosis?" Dr. Higa asked.

"Yes," House agreed. "Viruses can be sneaky like that, even if the symptoms are rarely completely identical."

"So if we find a virus that mimics Blastomycosis, we can tell from the symptoms if it is the cause of Aiko's illness," Cameron said. "Then we can test for it."

"But we cannot get the test results in time," Chase pointed out. "Even if we were able to find a possible virus to test for."

"Too true," House sighed. "We can start treating the symptoms of this right now, but we need to have a treatment for the real cause by tomorrow morning or I don't think Aiko will survive."

"I'll get her on steroids and anticonvulsants as soon as the MRI has confirmed the diagnosis," Chase told House. "I will also up the painkillers and we will have cool packs ready if her fever spikes suddenly."

"Yes," House nodded. "That should do for now, but we need to find the cause!"

"Cameron and I can start a search for viruses that have similar symptoms as Blastomycosis," Foreman said putting down the phone he had used to order the portable MRI machine to be brought into Aiko's room. "Just as soon as I have the MRI done."

"Good, do that," House agreed. "Chase, you start a search for any indication that Blastomycosis can travel; find out if there are any cases where the wife has got it after cleaning the husband's hunting or camping gear; any cases where plant samples have given it ..." Suddenly House stopped in mid-sentence.

"You remember something," Dr. Higa asked.

"Aiko sneezed," House said in a hollow voice. "Foreman, the asthma boy, William? When was it, the last time he had a big attack before he got sick?"

"Couple of days after they had moved here," Foreman thought for a moment. "His mother said that it was probably caused by dust as it happened at the lobby of their apartment building. There was a redecorating thing going at the place and there were men potting palm trees or something there. She figured it was the dust from the soil that caused the attack."

"It's the Jungle," House sighed.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand," Dr. Higa puzzled.

"You mean they have used contaminated soil in the pots?" Chase asked.

"Yes," House confirmed. "About three weeks ago Dr. Cuddy allowed one of the hospital's patrons to bring some plants into the lobby, I call it the Jungle. The morning they were being potted I came through there with Aiko and she sneezed. The spores need to be breathed in and that is the only possible time it could have happened!"

"But they wouldn't use contaminated soil!" Cameron stated. "There are rules and regulations about commercial use of soil. They** couldn't** just dig up earth from any old place and sell it. There are laws, you know."

"Foreman, explain it to Pollyanna," House invited Foreman.

Foreman gave him the usual look he reserved for times when House turned to him as the expert of things illegal, but he did explain: "Just because something is illegal does not mean it cannot be done. It simply means that when you do it, there may be consequences if you get caught."

"But why would they risk something like this?" Cameron was still refusing to believe something like this of her fellow man. "They are at risk themselves!"

"I doubt they knew what it was they were risking," House pointed out. "I'm sure they don't even know about _Blastomyces dermatitidis_. At all, let alone that it can be dangerous to humans. They probably thought they were risking only the health of the plants."

"So you think this epidemic is not something the patients caught, but something that was brought to them?" Dr. Higa asked.

"Yes, it has to be," House confirmed. "We still need to make sure the other children – and those patients at Princeton General – were exposed the same way, but this cannot be just a coincidence. Everything fits."

"We need to get the soil tested," Chase pointed out. "I'll get a sample."

"Don't touch it!" House ordered. "We need to inform CDC. If those pots really contain the fungus they are a bio hazard. Though they ought to be safe as long as nobody stirs the soil. We need to fence them off and let the CDC or EPA handle it."

"But what about the test? We need to know if it really is Blastomycosis!" Cameron fretted.

"The soil won't help us with that," House sighed. "It takes up to six weeks to get definitive test results for _Blastomyces dermatitidis_."

"We don't have six weeks," Dr. Higa stated the thought all had in their minds.


	27. Informed consent

_Fine, a possible tissue-warning towards the end. Just so you know._

-------------

They went through the patient histories looking for anything that would tell them the patients had been exposed to spores through potting soil. They found out that babies Perez and Cohen had been to the clinic the day that Aiko had sneezed; Maria Perez had had her one month check up and James Cohen had been there to get vaccinated. William Niven they already knew about and it turned out that Jenna Jones was living in an apartment building too and as that – like the one where the Nivens lived – was owned by the Smythes they had had the lobby decorated with potted palms as well. A phone call also revealed that the three senior citizens in Princeton General came from a home that had just had new plants in as well. And all locations had used the same brand new firm belonging to Mrs. Smythe's younger brother.

"I told Cuddy that the Jungle was a bad idea," House complained. "This happens every time she decides to set aside her ethics! Every time she thinks that the end justifies the means."

"Does she do that often?" Dr. Higa asked puzzled. Dr. Cuddy had seemed like an honourable woman.

"No," House said. "It's only when a very large donation is in sight for the hospital. Then she gets blinded by the ideas of all the good things she can do with the money and fails to consider all the possible consequences of the immediate concession she needs to make to have the money. She sometimes trusts people too much. I have tried to wean her from that, but there is only so much even I can do."

"And you, of course, never bend the rules and think the end justifies the means," Foreman couldn't help but point out.

"But I don't trust people," House shot back. "When I ignore ethics or rules to get the results I want, the results are in my control and I know the consequences of each step. Mind you, nobody could have seen these consequences and even if Cuddy had not allowed the plants in here, we would still have had an epidemic. Only possibly not enough evidence to find the cause in time."

"_Ningen banji saiou ga uma_," Dr. Higa said, with an ironic smile – which still revealed some of his pain, too. "At least I suppose that is how we ought to see this as doctors."

"As doctors we do," House responded with a similar smile. "But as a Father I don't give a damn about Sai's horse, right now."

"Sai's horse?" Chase repeated.

"An old story," House shrugged. "Basically it means that you never know when you are lucky or unlucky until you see the final outcome. Sai was an old man who lost his only horse and eventually the chain of events meant that his son didn't need to go to war. However, whether that was fortunate or unfortunate rather depends on the son."

"Or the father, depending on the point of view," Chase muttered earning a quizzical glance from House.

"You may have a point there," House acknowledged. "However that doesn't help with our current situation. Aiko has meningitis, the other babies may get it too, since this seems to be a bit more aggressive fungus than normally. Obviously travelling doesn't agree with it."

"We took a test for fungi as well," Cameron reminded them. "True its non-specific, but it should give us something to go on with."

"The results won't be in till tomorrow," Chase reminded her. "That is too late, at least... Well, the other babies might be able to wait."

"So what do we do, then," Foreman asked.

"Make our best guess," House said almost flippantly.

"Best guess?" Foreman repeated. "And what does that mean?"

"We take the symptoms, the evidence we have, make our best estimate of the cause of this illness and we treat," House explained.

"I agree that all the symptoms point to Gilchrist's disease, but it could be some other fungus, too," Chase contributed. "If it isn't a virus masquerading as Gilchrist's disease, though I'm fairly sure we can rule that out now that we have found that the only thing our patients have in common are the potted plants. But if it is some other fungus then the Fungizone for _Blastomyces dermatitidis_ might not work!"

"What ever the fungus is it is too aggressive to respond to anything but Amphotericin B anyway," House stated.

"But that's ..." Cameron couldn't even finish the thought.

"That is poison," Foreman had a stronger stomach. "Sure, it is the recommended drug for aggressive Blastomycosis, but we are talking about babies here. Can't we find something less toxic?"

"If you can think of any, I'll be happy to try it," House invited.

"I don't think there is anything else that would work," Chase admitted. "At least not fast enough. That is if we are right and this is fungal."

"If it isn't," House mused. "Then it has to be viral, and we are screwed anyway."

"So we treat Aiko for Blastomycosis and we use Amphotericin B," Chase concluded.

"Well, technically speaking you are Aiko's doctor," House reminded him. "You can refuse to do anything until we have more information."

"We have all the information we are likely to get in time," Chase summed. "If we are wrong about Blastomycosis then it has to be a virus, and as you said, if it is, we are screwed anyway. I recommend treatment."

"But what if you are wrong?" Cameron cried. "What if it is something else? Something that we can treat safely?"

House didn't say anything; he just looked at Dr. Higa, who was looking back at him.

"Then we lick the plate," Dr. Higa said quietly.

House nodded: "Then we lick the plate."

"What is that supposed to mean," Cameron demanded.

"An old Japanese saying," Dr. Higa told her. "When you eat poison, remember to lick the plate."

"At least we will probably be able to save the other children," House stated. "Chase, you better inform Cuddy about the suggested course of action; and also tell her to take action with the Jungle. And we probably need more Amphotericin B than we have on stock – if we are to treat all the kids. Besides they need to take it – or some other suitable fungizone – for at least six months to avoid a relapse."

"I'm on it," Chase accepted and left the room.

"We can't just make a best guess!" Cameron was distressed. "This is Aiko, we have to find a way to get more information."

"I'm open to suggestions," House said. "Any test you can think of that would give results in time; just name it and we will do it."

"There is something we could do," Foreman piped up. "Not a test, but we could try and find out where the soil came from. We know the Garden centre, so we know where to ask."

"That is a good idea," Dr. Higa acknowledged. "Do you think they will tell you?"

"Highly unlikely," House doubted. "Even if you tell them that it is a matter of life and death – or probably especially then."

"I think it might depend on how one does the asking," Foreman mused. "I admit that I was never into that line of business, but I have seen it done. And I thought I might take Mr. Cohen with me."

"Mr. Cohen?" House questioned.

"Baby Cohen's father," Foreman explained. "He is a big man, built like a barn. He also had an unfortunate encounter with an exploding soda bottle in high school, so he looks pretty fierce."

"I see," House started to smile. "You seem to have a workable plan there."

"Might I perhaps join this expedition, too," Dr. Higa asked. "I have seen the world a little more than you, young man, and it is possible to ruin a plan like this by being too heavy too soon. Politeness is often enough. After all, we don't know yet what kind of man we are dealing with. He could have been duped, too."

"He is an excellent judge of people," House told Foreman. "It is almost impossible to lie to him."

"Fine with me," Foreman agreed. "I'm sure the three of us can get to the bottom of this."

"I suspect that we at least have enough motivation to get it done," Dr. Higa pointed out.

----------------------------------------

Chase walked slowly into Dr. Cuddy's office. They hadn't yet told her that Aiko had meningitis and he was fairly sure she wouldn't be thrilled with the rest of his news either. He walked right in – House had managed to get rid of yet another one of Dr. Cuddy's secretaries or assistants or whatever it was they liked to call themselves. Cuddy was in conference with the hospital lawyer; convenient since there was a good chance they could be sued for having allowed the plants into the hospital.

"We believe we know what is wrong with the babies," Chase told Cuddy without any preamble.

"Believe?" Cuddy asked. "Do you need my permission for some dangerous test again?"

"No, there is no test that would give us results soon enough," Chase said. "All the symptoms point towards Blastomycosis so we are treating for it."

"But that can't be it," Cuddy insisted. "We don't have that in New Jersey and you need to be outside to get it. Babies never get it!"

"We believe we have located the source," Chase explained. "It is the only thing common with all the patients."

"Hold on there," The lawyer intervened. "Are you telling me you are making a guess here? You have no test results to back you up? But you still mean to treat patients? You cannot do that. It could mean huge legal consequences for the hospital: doctors treating patients based on guesses."

"But that is what we usually do," Chase growled at the lawyer. "We make the best guess we can and if we have time then we test for it. If we are right, then the tests prove it, if not, then we make another guess. That is how medicine works."

"You said the test would not give results soon enough," Cuddy intervened. "Are you sure? I mean the children aren't that sick."

"We have a new symptom," Chase turned to Cuddy. "I'm sorry, but it comes with meningitis."

"Oh, God, no," Cuddy understood immediately who Chase was talking about. "And you are sure it's fungal?"

"No, not completely," Chase admitted. "But if it's viral, there is nothing we can do anyway. We need to treat her right away. We cannot wait six weeks to find out for sure it is Blastomycosis."

"Did I understand you right," The lawyer just couldn't stay out of it. "You are going to treat just one child and see what happens? You can't do that. You cannot use patients as guinea pigs."

"Clinical trial, I believe is the correct term," Chase flipped at him. "Besides I have consent. The hospital is safe from that quarter."

"Informed consent," the lawyer stressed. "You need to get informed consent. The parents need to know that you are just guessing here; basically flipping a coin with the child's life."

"Wouldn't be the first time we've done that," Chase defied him. "But have no fear. I have informed consent. You don't actually get any more bloody informed than what I have. And if you don't shut up I will take that informed consent and shove it up your ass and I will not be gentle about it."

"Dr. Chase," the lawyer exclaimed. "There is no need to get violent. I'm just looking after the best interest of this hospital."

"Well, good for you," Chase said. "However you have a bigger problem to deal with."

"What is it?" Cuddy asked.

"We have found one thing in common with all the patients and one thing only," Chase told her. "We believe they got the Blastomycosis from contaminated soil. Potting soil."

"Potting soil?" Cuddy asked puzzled.

"Yes," Chase regretted having to tell her this. "The Jungle."

"You get Blastomycosis from inhaling the spores. The spores become airborne when you disturb the soil. Aiko sneezed," Cuddy was almost in trance as she went through it in her mind. "House told me I was insane. He said that I had no way of knowing that the soil didn't have harmful microbes or fungi – he specifically said fungi – in it. And I just blew him off. I thought he was just being his usual difficult self. He said he smelled mould. This is all my fault!"

"Dr. Cuddy," Chase put his hand on her shoulder. "Not all the children got it here. And as Dr. House said, if Aiko had not got sick, we might not have realised what was wrong in time. The soil has been used in other locations, too. Regardless of your actions we would still have an epidemic."

"Yeah, but Aiko would not be sick," Cuddy looked up with tears in her eyes. "I have already cost him so much. Am I costing him his daughter too?"

"Who are we talking about?" well, lawyers never do know when to shut up.

"Dr. House's daughter, now shut up," Chase threw at him. "It won't come to that. We are sure it has to be Blastomycosis, and we are treating her for it. Yes, it will be rough, but she will be ok. We won't let her be anything but ok. We have the two best doctors in the world here agreeing that this is the way to go. Her Father and Grandfather both agree that this has to be it. House has never failed before," Chase knew he was lying there – though he did suppose that it depended a little on your definition of failure, but whatever, he was trying to convince himself as much as he was convincing Dr. Cuddy. "This will not be his first. You know he will go to Hell and back, as will we all, for Aiko. We are not loosing her."

"No, we are not loosing her," Cuddy repeated. God could not be so cruel, not again, not to House. Not again.


	28. Come morning

_Thank you for the reviews again. I hope this episode keeps you going till next week-end )_

--------------------

Dr. Higa and Foreman came back to the hospital about an hour after they had left with Mr. Cohen. Foreman opened the diagnostics door for Dr. Higa with somewhat exaggerated courtesy and was all in all very solicitous with the older man – much to his amusement. This whole show was witnessed by Chase, Cameron and House who had been trying to find some other, less toxic drug to use on Aiko than Amphotericin B (no success, unfortunately).

"Foreman?" House questioned. "What is going on?"

"I'm just doing my best to stay on the good side of Dr. Higa," Foreman informed him.

"I have no idea what has caused this reaction in him," Dr. Higa responded to House's raised eyebrow, though he was quite clearly lying.

"Well, you can explain that later," House allowed. "Any information you want to share?"

"Yes," Foreman was suddenly all business. "Dr. Higa managed to persuade Mr. Landis to tell us where he got the soil. It's a small place in Ohio, near the river. I happen to know a Vet practising there and I called her for more information and she has treated a few dogs for Blastomycosis just recently. As you know dogs usually get it first. It's as definite as we can get."

"Ohio?" Cameron wondered. "I would have thought that with the transport cost it would have been cheaper to buy legal soil right here!"

"We got the impression that the transport wasn't exactly kosher either," Foreman explained. "We didn't really go into that, once we got the relevant information."

"Ok, we start treating Aiko then," House nodded. "So why don't you share with us how Dr. Higa managed to make Mr. Landis tell you all?"

"Very politely, of course," Dr. Higa inserted.

"He was awesome," Foreman praised. "And very polite, very polite indeed."

"Please, don't give them a false impression," Dr. Higa insisted. "I did slip a little once."

"Yeah, I suppose breaking the man's desk could be seen as a bit of a slip," Foreman had to accept. "But it did convince him that we meant business."

"Who broke the desk?" Cameron asked. She was sure she had misunderstood.

"Dr. Higa," Foreman confirmed. "With his bare hands! See, we walked into Mr. Landis' office, Dr. Higa was first and Mr. Cohen and me just followed. We had agreed that the two of us would just stand around and let Dr. Higa do the talking. Well, we stationed ourselves on either side of the door and let Dr. Higa meet Mr. Landis at the desk. There was some polite conversation first and Dr. Higa explained why we were there. Mr. Landis was naturally shocked and he assured us that there was nothing wrong with his soil. For a moment there I foolishly believed that Dr. Higa had been fooled as he stood up, apparently accepting the man's word, but then he hit the desk with his fist and it broke in two! You should have seen Landis' face – mind you I'm sure Mr. Cohen and I were equally stunned. Anyway, Dr. Higa explained, very politely, the gravity of the situation to Landis, and suddenly he sang like a bird. We got everything we wanted. And as we got out of there we saw the EPA guys go in, so I think Landis is very much taken care of."

"Mind over matter?" House asked Dr. Higa

"I did offer to teach you," Dr. Higa reminded him.

"So you did," House nodded. "You also told me that it would take something like five years to even get all the beginner's levels done."

"Yes, you were a little inpatient those days," Dr. Higa mused. "A bit of a three-day-monk; unless it was something you really wanted."

"Well monk-hood was never my thing," House pretended to misunderstand Higa's reference to giving up easily.

"Yes, that was definitely made abundantly clear during your stay with us," Higa stated. "You certainly made the most of your opportunities."

"Yeah, that was then," House smiled back ruefully. "These days the opportunities tend to be much fewer. Anyway, I think that is enough of my misspent youth. I wouldn't want my fellows to get the idea that I would condone similar behaviour from them."

"_Reformed rakes make the strictest fathers?_" Higa asked with amusement. He spoke Japanese.

House thought about it for a moment and answered: "_Hai, only I'm not so sure of the reformed part."_

"Did you find anything safer than Amphotericin B?" Foreman asked Chase and Cameron.

"No," Chase answered. "Unfortunately not. We may be able to switch to a less toxic Fungizone once this acute stage is over, but that's it. I will be monitoring Aiko closely, though to catch any adverse reactions immediately."

"I'm still not happy with this," Cameron kept shaking her head.

"Nobody is," House pointed out. "But I'm not going to wait for an autopsy to find out that we were right about Blastomycosis. Besides, given that Aiko is a baby, we will find out probably within three hours if we are wrong. If the medicine makes her worse, then that will happen soon. If there is no change or even only a slight improvement within those three hours, we are probably right. If she has improved significantly by morning, we will start treating the rest of the children, too. Yes, we still need to watch out for side effects of the drug, but once this acute stage is under control we may be able to change the medication to something a little safer."

"Ok, I'll go and start the medication," Chase agreed.

"I'd like to come with you if I may," Dr. Higa requested.

"Certainly," Chase said. "After what Foreman told us I'm not saying no to you, Dr. Higa, no matter what you ask."

"I'll join you, too, in a while," House told them as they left the room. "Does either of you know if Wilson's patient is out of surgery yet?" He asked Foreman and Cameron then.

"I saw Dr. Wilson in the lobby," Foreman remembered. "He said he would come here as soon as he talks with the family."

"Cameron? Would you find him and tell him what's happening," House asked. "He has been busy with his patient and I didn't want to distract him before."

"I'll wait here for him and bring him to Aiko's room if his patients don't need him," Cameron promised.

-------------------

Foreman was on his way to Aiko's room – having stopped at the clinic to check some test results for one of his clinic patients – when he saw Mr. Cohen in the corridor.

"Dr. Foreman," Cohen called him. "Did Dr. House get the confirmation he needed from our visit?"

"Yes," Foreman admitted. "We got pretty much what we needed. We need to do one more clinical trial and if that works out, we start the treatment on your son tomorrow morning. Unless there is some change in him that requires us to act sooner."

"So you can cure my son," Mr. Cohen asked with hope.

"The treatment is not exactly safe, I'm afraid," Foreman had to admit. "It's a bit of a Hail Mary; if it doesn't make you stronger... But we will do our best to stay on top of the possible side effects."

"But you are hopeful?" Cohen wanted to know.

"I will be come morning, if all goes well," Foreman replied cautiously.

"Ok, I suppose we just wait," Cohen sighed in resignation. "Not much else we can do."

"I'm sorry, but that is often the only thing the families can do," Foreman sympathised.

"I know it really is not my business but we sort of heard that one of the babies is worse off than the others," Cohen phrased cautiously. "I hope it is not Dr. Higa's granddaughter."

"I'm afraid I really cannot comment on any of the other patients," Foreman answered. "But we are doing our best for all."

"I understand," Cohen nodded. "Thank you anyway."

"Nothing to thank me for as yet," Foreman shrugged. "Besides, if we are right, it really is Dr. House who has solved this case."

"Well, all I can say is, that I hope your trial works out the way you hope," Cohen sighed. "I expect to hear from you come morning."

"With good news, I hope," Foreman stated.

-----------------

Chase, House and Dr. Higa were all in Aiko's room three hours later. So far there had been no change in Aiko. She definitely was not worse. Chase checked her vitals pretty much every fifteen minutes and they were stable.

"So far it looks like we were right," Chase noted. "At least the drug isn't making her worse."

"I'd say we were right," House said. "If we can stay on top of the side effects she will be ok."

"I think we can be a little optimistic right now," Dr. Higa agreed. "But we will wait with the celebrations till morning."

"Yes, let's not make the mice laugh," House acknowledged.

"You know, this short-hand you use when you talk with each other, can get a little annoying," Chase pointed out.

"You may have a point, young man," Dr. Higa admitted. "But we like our proverbs in Japan. And I think my presence influences Gregory, too. The reference was just to an old saying: talk about things of tomorrow and the mice inside the ceiling laugh."

"We still have the night to get through," House sighed.

They settled down to wait. Cuddy had arranged for a bed for House or Dr. Higa in the room as soon as Aiko had been brought in. They took turns to rest on it, though Chase took his rest mostly in the diagnostics room. Cameron and Foreman took their turns in waiting in Aiko's room with the two older men. Kasumii and Wilson were also frequent visitors; Kasumii especially had made it her business to see to it that House and Higa had food and drinks. He also brought House a change of clothes for the morning having got a ride from Grey to House's home and back.

"What are you still doing here, Kasumii?" House asked at one point. "You should be home in bed or something."

"For an intelligent man, Dr. House," Kasumii replied with hands on her hips. "You can come up with some stupid things to say. There is no way I'm going anywhere until we know that Aiko is going to be ok."

After that remark, House decided not to comment on Wilson, Cameron, Foreman and even Grey coming and going from Aiko's room all night long. As time passed, it became more and more obvious that the treatment was working and Aiko was getting better. Her meningitis was obviously as good as gone, her breathing got easier and her fever went down. All signs gave a clear indication that they had been right: it was Blastomycosis and they had – fingers crossed – found it in time. So far there had been no adverse effects from the drug and hopefully things would stay that way. Once Chase declared the results the rest of them gave a subdued cheer – they were in a hospital full of sick people and their loved ones, after all. Only Dr. Higa and House didn't cheer. They looked at each other and gave each other a nod – something about it seemed to say: well done, we did it again. House wiped his hand over his face (if you looked carefully you could see tears in his eyes; as indeed you could see tears in Aiko's grandfather's eyes, too) and then he turned to his ducklings.

"Ok, I say we start treating the other children now," House ordered. "It's Blastomycosis."

"I'm on it," Foreman said leaving the room.

"Good work everyone," House said looking around. Suddenly he frowned in puzzlement: "Where is Cuddy?"

"She is in her office," Chase answered a little awkwardly. "She didn't think you would want to see her around."

"What are you talking about?" House questioned.

"She blames herself for Aiko's illness," Chase explained.

"Damn," House sighed. "Her overdeveloped guilt complex!"

"What are you going to do?" Dr. Higa asked.

"Go into her office and chew her ass off," House growled.

"I am an old man, but even so I have noticed that Dr. Cuddy has a rather attractive ass," Higa pronounced. "I hope you are not chewing it all off?"

"Don't worry," House gave a small – and very welcome smile. "I'm rather fond of her ass, too. I'm not going to do any permanent damage to it."


	29. Assume

When House limped into Cuddy's office she was asleep at the table. Her head was resting on her folded arms on top of the table. House shook his head at her stupidity: she had a perfectly good couch in her office, why invite cramps and a stiff neck by sleeping at her desk. There was no way that she had fallen asleep working as the desk was clean of any papers, files or ledgers. House contemplated his best course of action for a moment. Sure he could wake Cuddy up gently and have a civilised conversation about her unnecessary guilt. But chances were that if he did that he wouldn't get Cuddy tell him everything. Besides it would be no fun and House felt like celebrating; a good all out fight with Cuddy was just what he needed. And it would probably do Cuddy some good, too. Besides she looked amazing when her temper got the better of her. So without any preamble or warning of his presence House slammed his cane on Cuddy's desk startling her nearly out of her chair.

"House!" Cuddy yelled at him at first, then it really registered with her that it was House in her office. She turned a little pale – not that she needed to, she was already pale and had dark circles under her eyes – and avoided looking at House. "What ... hmm..." She stuttered.

It looked like it wasn't going to be quite as easy as House had thought; this looked like a major guilt trip Cuddy was on. Ok, they had been there before. "You know, you may be the boss here but I still don't appreciate that you force me to come here to talk to you when I really should be with my daughter."

"How is Aiko?" Cuddy asked not even hearing his sentence.

"Like you care?" House huffed.

"I care!" Cuddy finally looked at him with anguished eyes.

"Is that why you don't come, you don't call; you don't even write?" House flipped at her.

"Chase promised to keep me informed," Cuddy said in a small voice. She still didn't catch on to House's game.

"Oh, that makes it ok, I'm sure," House scorned. "Why bother yourself when you have minions who can do the unimportant work for you."

"Aiko is not unimportant!" Finally some temper was showing through even if only a little. "You know she is important to me. I love her."

"Really!" House doubted. "I suppose I ought to be grateful then that you don't love me. God knows what you would do to me if you loved me the way you love Aiko."

"How is she," Cuddy was nearly in tears.

"She will be fine," House told her. "No thanks to you."

"I know," Cuddy hung her head in shame. "I'm sorry. I know you don't want me to be her alternative guardian anymore. I'll have the lawyers draw the new papers, just give them a name. I'm not fit to be anybody's mother."

Ok, now they were getting somewhere, House thought. "Well regardless of your fitness you are going to be one, aren't you?" He poked some more.

Cuddy flinched. "I don't think you want me to have your child anymore."

"A bit late for me to change my mind, don't you think?" House observed. "The bun is in the oven already."

"I'm reserving a time from Dr. Peters later today," Cuddy informed him in a choked voice.

Oh, boy, no ordinary fight was going to serve this time; this was major, major guilt trip with self-devised punishment to boot. "So what is it? You made some kind of new year's resolution, or something, that you were going to kill a child this year?" House asked.

"That is a horrible thing to say!" Cuddy was outraged.

"Really? Are you telling me that it's ok for you to do it, but not ok for me to talk about it?" House frowned. "Somehow that doesn't sound quite right."

"You make it sound like I planned this all," Cuddy was nearly in tears; though was it outrage, exasperation or remorseful grief, House wasn't quite sure. What he did know was that he was getting somewhere.

"Well didn't you?" House asked. "Not Aiko, of course, you couldn't plan that, but you planned to get pregnant and now you plan to terminate it. Sure your plans have been somewhat impulsive, which sort of makes me wonder if those pro-life activists don't have a point after all. I used to think that no woman would just wake up one day and decide _hey, I've had it with this pregnancy, I think I'll have an abortion today_, but apparently I was wrong."

"How dare you!" Cuddy yelled at him. "How dare you trivialize this? I love Aiko, I love this baby I'm carrying. I'm not doing any of this on a whim. I'm doing this for you. I already cost you your health when I talked Stacy into the operation. I nearly cost you your daughter, even if it wasn't deliberate, just my stupidity in not listening to you. You cannot want me to have your child! You cannot want me to have any child! What kind of a mother would I be? I'm not fit to be a mother."

"You know that saying: when you assume you become a pain in the ass to me?" House queried. "I have no reason to want you to terminate your pregnancy. Once I took aim and shot, the matter was out of my hands. If I hadn't thought it through then, now is too late. And I did think it through. You will be a great mother. Neurotic, sure. Guilt-ridden, even if you have no reason, but I'm sure you will find something to feel guilty about. Over-anxious. And you will probably drive your child insane. But you will love your kid. Whatever else you will do, you will love your kid. And you will not raise him slash her alone. You will have the same people helping you that I have with Aiko. And we will both do just fine. You will see."

"You don't regret this child?" Cuddy hardly dared to breathe. "You are not sorry that I'm pregnant? Wishing that it had never happened?"

"Cuddy!" House sighed in exasperation. "I don't want you to terminate your pregnancy! Do you want it in writing?"

"You are sure?" Cuddy asked in a small, tear filled voice.

"Yes. Yes. Yes," House said. "I'm sure. Happy now?"

Apparently Cuddy was not happy, as she burst into tears and buried her head on House's shoulder – and pretty much howled her heart out; ok not really howled but still proper crying, not the shedding-tears-from-the-left-eye-kind you sometimes see on soaps.

"It's a good thing Aiko has given me plenty of practise at this," House muttered as he folded Cuddy into his arms and let her just cry it all out. It took good ten minutes before Cuddy calmed down enough to stop, though she ended up having the hick-ups. House pushed her to sit on the couch and got her a glass of water - along with the tissues.

"Right, are you ready now to stop being an idiot?" House admonished Cuddy, who didn't reply, just lifted her tear-smudged eyes to him. "Nobody blames you for what happened to Aiko. Well, nobody but you, but then you have always been a guilt-hog."

"But I am to blame," Cuddy insisted. "You warned me. You told me several times that I would regret the jungle. When it was being potted you told me that you could smell mould! You specifically warned me about harmful microbes and fungi. And I ignored you. I thought you were just being your normal confrontational self. I **am** to blame."

"First of all I **was** being my normal confrontational self," House spelled to Cuddy. "Secondly, do you really think that had I been serious I would have brought Aiko inside? Yes, I thought the jungle was a bad idea but I was concerned for people who are allergic to chlorophyll or plants in general. Or the possible things that organic matter attracts over time. I did not think there was any immediate danger. For crying out loud, Cuddy: nobody could possibly have seen this outcome, even had we known the man was cutting corners. Blastomyces dermatitidis isn't exactly a common fungus. You cannot blame yourself. This was not supposed to happen; this is exactly why there are laws, rules and regulations about soil and plants. You just trusted people." 

" You never do," Cuddy chewed on her lip. "And most of the time it seems to serve you well." 

" Look, I'm saying this just this once," House took hold of Cuddy's hand. "And I will deny having said it to my dying day, so listen carefully. It is not a bad thing to be able to trust people. Yeah, everybody lies but not about everything and not all the time. Just have a plan B in reserve for when they are not worthy of your trust." 

" I have a plan B," Cuddy shrugged studying the floor with great interest. 

" Really? And what might that be," House doubted. 

" You," Cuddy stated simply. 

" What?" House was not at all sure he had heard her correctly. 

" You are my plan B," Cuddy said. "That is the main reason I keep you around. When things go really wrong you somehow manage to make them right. The end result is not always happy or even good, but it is right. Somehow you make things right. You solve the puzzle, you find the truth, you can always be trusted, in a weird sort of way. You're my plan B." 

" Oh," House wasn't quite sure how to react to that. "Ok then. Fine." 

They sat in silence for a moment; Cuddy was drinkng her water and House was thumping his cane to the floor. Somehow the silence wasn't uncomfortable, though. It was just silence between friends – or possibly, concidering the people in question, the calm in the eye of a tornado. 

" So, you think you're ready to come and see Aiko?" House asked after a moment. 

" Yeah, I'd like to come and see her, if it's ok with you," Cuddy swallowed the last of her water. 

" How many times do I have to tell you that nobody blames you?" House shook his head at Cuddy. "Or strike that, knowing you I will probably have to repeat it at least once a day for the rest of the year. And probably a few times even after that." 

" Well Aiko would not have been in any danger had I done what I should have done," Cuddy reminded House. 

" She would not have been in any danger either had Landis done what the law required of him," House pointed out. "Let go. You were not at fault." 

" I suppose," Cuddy finally relented a little. "But this is my hospital!" 

" Then sue Landis," House told her. "His actions damaged the reputation of this hospital and put our patients in mortal danger. Lead the lawsuit against him. I'm sure the families will be happy to let you handle it." 

" I could do that," Cuddy agreed and House saw how the wheels already started to turn in her head. 

" So come on then, let's go see Aiko and you can then talk with the families of the other children," House got up from the couch and offered his hand to Cuddy to help her up too. 

" Ok," Cuddy smiled. "I really want to see for myself that Aiko is getting better." 

They got as far as the door before Cuddy suddenly halted. 

" Dr. Higa," She said. "He is there with Aiko, isn't he?" 

" Yes," House gave a deep sigh. He knew what was going to happen next. 

" He won't want to see me," Cuddy doubted. 

" He does not blame you for Aiko's illness!" House pronounced. "I will not have this conversation with you again, not two minutes after we already had it." 

" But ..." Cuddy tried to have it anyway. House decided to take the big guns into play. 

" No buts. He does not blame you," House turned Cuddy to face him. "He likes your ass too much to want to kick it." 

" House!" Cuddy admonished him. "I'm glad you think Dr. Higa doesn't blame me, but could you leave my ass out of it. I'm sure he hasn't even noticed I have one." 

" Oh yes he has," House revealed to her gleefully. "He thinks its attractive." 

" You discussed my ass with Dr. Higa!" Cuddy was appalled. 

" Why the surprise?" House asked. "You know I discuss your ass with anyone who is willing to stand still long enough for me to introduce the subject." 

"You are impossible!" Cuddy huffed.

"Yeah." House agreed. "And so are you. Just differently. Now are you going to get your attractive ass in gear and get it to Aiko's room or do I have to do something drastic?"

"I don't think I could handle anything you would call drastic, so yes, I'm ready to see Aiko," Cuddy nodded in resignation.

"Good," House hustled her out of her office.


	30. Surprise

_Thank you for the reviews! And I don't think I'm giving anything away by stating that Aiko will not have a relapse – I'm not quite sure what House & Co will come up with, now that they have decided to play with me longer than I originally thought, but relapse is not an option._

_Oh, and just in case, because I'm not quite sure if I got more credit than I deserve: the ASS-u-me thing, it's an actual Housism from Forever. House said it to Foreman._

---------------------------

As House and Cuddy came out of Cuddy's office House was surprised by seeing his mother walk in through the hospital doors.

"Mother!" House went to meet her. "What... How... Didn't you get my message? Only you must have been on your way here already."

"Yes, I got your message," Blythe hugged and kissed her son. "But did you really think that I was going to sit quietly at home and wait for news? I have done quite enough of that in my time; I am not doing it with my granddaughter. As soon as you called and told us what had happened I got in touch with the airport and got us the first tickets here. I was most happy to get your message that Aiko was getting better, but I want to see for myself."

"And so you shall," House gave his mother an extra hug. "It really is good to see you. Did I understand that Dad was with you?"

"Yes," Blythe confirmed. "He is parking the car. I told him we could take a taxi; I mean what are we saving money for anymore? But he insisted on renting. Said he wanted to have his own wheels if we stay longer."

"Wouldn't it have been safer to take a cab and then rent a car here?" House wondered. "You must have been up all night!"

"Try to tell a marine he isn't up to something," Blythe laughed a little. Before she had time to elaborate John House got inside, too.

John and House exchanged short greetings – and House refrained from commenting on how ill staying up all night suited his father. Blythe seemed to have fared better, actually.

"Cuddy and I were just going back to Aiko's room," House told his parents. "I came down to get her and to tell her the good news. If you think she looks a bit rough, it's because I found her sleeping on her desk."

"I need a shower and a change of clothing," Cuddy admitted. "But I wanted to see Aiko first. And I'm sure you wouldn't mind having a chance to refresh yourselves either. We have empty visitors' rooms; I'll arrange one for you till you have managed to make your own arrangements."

"Thank you, Lisa," Blythe smiled. "You are most kind."

When they got to Aiko's room only Dr. Higa and Wilson were there. The ducklings were with the other sick children starting the treatment on them and making sure they were all closely monitored.

"Dr. Higa," House said as soon as they walked in the room. "These are my parents Blythe and John House. My mother wanted to see for herself that Aiko is getting better."

Having spent time in Japan the Houses were able to give Dr. Higa a normal Japanese greeting – though neither had learned more than a few words of Japanese. However, Blythe knew from her son that Dr. Higa spoke flawless English, so she didn't hesitate to talk to him.

"I am pleased to meet you at last, Dr. Higa," Blythe greeted him. "My son has spoken very highly of you, though not nearly enough to satisfy my curiosity about Aiko's Grandfather. But I'm sure you know my son."

"Indeed, Mrs. House," Higa agreed politely. "He has probably been much more forthcoming about you to me than vice versa. He told me how readily you accepted my granddaughter into your heart. I thank you for that."

"No need to thank me," Blythe deflected. "Aiko is most aptly named: to meet her is to love her. The moment Gregory put her in my arms she made her way into my heart. There was no choice involved. I am so relieved and happy that she is getting better, that you were able to find out what was wrong and treat her in time."

"She is not completely out of the woods yet, Mother," House inserted. "But I am very hopeful."

Cuddy had gone to Aiko the minute she got in the room and now Blythe joined her at the baby's bedside.

"She is so little," Blythe mourned. "And all those tubes and things. I know she needs them and they are helping her get better, but it just breaks my heart."

"Hopefully we can get rid of most of them later today," Wilson explained. "Her lungs are getting better, so she won't need extra oxygen soon. We need to keep the central line in, since she gets her medication through it for the next two weeks at least, but hopefully we can soon start feeding her normally and then we can also hold her properly."

"That is good to hear," Blythe sighed giving her finger to Aiko to hold on to. Cuddy was reading Aiko's chart and seeing for herself that they had their baby back. Then she, too, reached to touch Aiko and reassure herself that the baby was real, warm and here.

"You are lucky, Greg," John pronounced from the doorway – he hadn't come further in the room. "You have friends who can help. But surely you see now that you shouldn't be responsible for a baby. She already nearly died! What more needs to happen." Everyone in the room turned to look at John in astonishment, Blythe included. "Come on, Dr. Higa, tell Gregory that you have changed your mind and are taking your granddaughter back with you. You have already seen that this arrangement doesn't work."

"No, I don't think I have seen anything of the kind," Dr. Higa stated carefully. "As far as I can see this arrangement is working fine."

"Fine? You call it fine that Greg nearly kills the child!" John was astounded.

"John!" Blythe tried to intervene. "We don't even know what was wrong with Aiko; let alone how it all happened. And no matter what it was, it cannot have been anybody's fault! Illness is illness."

"But if you take care of kids they don't get sick," John explained causing his wife to drop her jaw nearly to the floor. "Greg was never ill."

"WHAT!" Blythe spluttered. "Just because you never saw it, does not mean he wasn't ever sick."

"Well, not enough to need hospitalization," John dismissed. Blythe was ready to say quite a few things to that pronouncement as well, but House stopped her. He didn't see any point in bringing old things from his childhood into this conversation.

"Are you accusing your son of having neglected his daughter?" Dr. Higa asked curiously. He seemed to be assessing John.

"Well I suppose that would be going a little too far," John shrugged. "All I'm saying is that he just doesn't know what he is doing. He thinks he has all the answers and will not listen to advice. Now he nearly cost your granddaughter her life. Somebody needs to step in and make him face the truth."

Cuddy had been listening to John House in disbelief. She was tired and emotionally exhausted and John's word started buzzing in her head. She just saw red! House had taken excellent, loving care of Aiko. The only one in the room who had not listened to advice was her (and probably John himself), not House. And to hear someone so callously accuse House of neglect – no matter how much John denied that that was what he was doing – after what House had just been through; after all his work; after having saved not only Aiko but the other children, too – and possibly a good number of other people who just hadn't had time to get sick yet. This was all just unthinkable.

Cuddy lost it. She marched up to John, eyes flaming: "How dare you! How **dare** you!" And she slapped him. Hard. Then she burst into tears and nearly run out of the room.

There was a dead silence in the room till House said: "Women. They get so hormonal sometimes." He made ready to follow Cuddy but Higa stopped him.

"Greg," Higa said. "I might...?"

"Yes," House agreed. After all what was he going to say that he hadn't already said to Cuddy? "If you would."

Higa nodded to House and left the room. Blythe noted the exchange for future reference; it seemed to her that Greg behaved more like a son to Dr. Higa than to John. She wasn't sure if she was happy or sad – or both.

"Well!" John sputtered recovering from his initial surprise. "What was that all about?"

"Oh, don't be an ass John," Blythe wasn't going to mediate this time. Enough was enough. "You deserved it."

"I was just stating the obvious," John insisted. "How could that unhinge Dr. Cuddy?"

"You know John," Blythe sighed. "For a man who prides himself on being always right, you are wrong remarkably often." She then turned her back to her husband and concentrated on her granddaughter. House could not keep a small, gleeful smirk from his face. He did turn away from his father, though, to hide it. Wilson did see it, but refrained from commenting. In stead he offered to escort John to the guest quarters. He assumed Cuddy had offered the Houses one of them – and if not, he would do it himself. Main thing was to get John away from House, and as soon as possible, too.

-----------------------

Dr. Higa caught up with Cuddy near the elevators. Cuddy was trying to stop her tears and she was wiping her eyes with her hands. Dr. Higa offered her a handkerchief.

"Thank you," Cuddy sniffed. "You must think I'm totally unhinged."

"Not at all," Dr. Higa said. "I thought your behaviour was perfectly justified. And you probably feel better for it, too. I know I do."

"Whaaat?" Cuddy gulped in surprise and turned to stare at Dr. Higa. She quite forgot to cry, too.

"See, you are definitely feeling better," Dr. Higa pointed out.

"You think I was right to hit Greg's father?" Cuddy wasn't sure what to think.

"I don't like violence," Dr. Higa admitted. "In fact, I abhor it. But yesterday, if the desk hadn't been between me and Landis, I would have hit him and not the poor innocent desk. Though it does not make it acceptable, violence in defence of family can be understood. And sometimes it is acceptable, too, when it doesn't go too far."

"You saw my action in there as defending family?" Cuddy was startled; she hadn't quite seen House in that light.

"If I interpret the signs correctly," Dr. Higa mused. "Aiko's sort-of-family existed even before she ever came along. True, you all probably didn't see it, but had there been some other crisis, you would have come together the way you did for Aiko."

"We had a crisis," Cuddy wouldn't meet Higa's gaze. She was afraid that the seemingly all-seeing eyes of the man would see the word "Tritter" tattooed to her mind. "If it was a test of family, we failed."

"Really?" Higa asked. "Yet here you all still are. Together."

"Only because of Aiko," Cuddy explained.

"You really think that had you failed Gregory, really failed him, he would have allowed you, any of you anywhere near Aiko?" Higa asked. "Families are not perfect. They make mistakes, even big mistakes, and hurtful mistakes. But the point of family is that those mistakes do not break the family. You all came together to help Gregory with Aiko. That is what family does. Even after mistakes."

"I suppose we are family then," Cuddy had to accept. "At least sort of. I mean I certainly stuffed up with the jungle, but House seems to have forgiven me."

"I think he was more of the opinion that you are not to blame for any of this," Higa pointed out. "When there has been no wrongdoing there is also no need for forgiveness. You had no way of knowing that Landis was breaking laws. You did your best with the information you had. Nobody can – or at least nobody should blame you for any of this."

"House said the same thing," Cuddy admitted. "But I still find it hard to not feel responsible. The jungle was a stupid idea to start with, even if I didn't think it was dangerous."

"Gregory told me that you are seeing a therapist who helps you deal with stress?" Higa seemed change subject.

"Yes," Cuddy nodded. "House and Wilson set it up because they worried about me."

"Don't you think your over-developed feel of responsibility might be something you'd like to discuss with your therapist?" Higa suggested. "Guilt is a major source for stress, after all. And not at all good for the baby."

"Did House tell you?" Cuddy grimaced.

"No, he didn't need to," Higa told her.

"Of course," Cuddy nodded. "You were the one who taught him everything he knows."

"No," Higa denied. "I just taught him things I know. The rest he figured out himself. He is rather good at that sort of thing."

"And don't I know it," Cuddy agreed wholeheartedly.

"So do you mind, if – as a doctor – I advice you to have something to eat, get some rest and then go see your therapist?" Higa questioned as the lift finally arrived.

"I think that that is good advice, thank you," Cuddy smiled as she stepped in.


	31. Hurt

_Thank you for the reviews! They do brighten up my week-end – almost as much as the chance to indulge in my obsession ;)._

_About the song here, if you haven't heard it, there are sites on the net where you can play it, just google the name and the singer. As it is not out of copyright, I didn't put in all words; but they all fit House._

-----------------

House had done his clinic duty – and those of his ducklings as well, which nearly made Cuddy keel over in shock. He hadn't even complained or been – well too – obnoxious with patients. And he had found two more patients who had been at the clinic when the Jungle had been set up and who were showing early signs of possible Blastomycosis. He had also made sure that the ducklings had each had time to shower and change. And the rest of the time he spent with Aiko. Cuddy thought it was a good thing Kasumii had decided to _nanny_ House, too for now, otherwise House would probably have gone without eating or drinking all day. David Grey also forced House to take an hour for physical therapy. It seemed that Dr. Higa had been right; the family was coming together.

The ducklings had divided the night between them so that each had a chance to sleep, too, but the patients were still being monitored by one of them – in addition to the normal hospital staff. Dr. Higa was sleeping in Aiko's room and Cuddy and Wilson managed to convince House that he really could and indeed should go home to sleep in his own bed. Aiko was going to be ok, and she was going to need her Daddy in peak condition, not collapsing all over the place. Reluctantly House had capitulated. He knew they were talking sense and his leg was already bothering him (Aiko-withdrawal-pains as Grey put it), so he really did need to get proper rest.

Late that evening Wilson was standing outside House's building. He and Cuddy had agreed that he would check up on House, just in case. And Wilson had to admit that the idea of spending a lonely night in his room wondering how House was, picturing Aiko in her hospital bed and worrying over both of them did not appeal to him either. If he had to worry about them, he much rather did it with his best friend so here he was digging his key out of his pocket ready to go in. Before he got to the door, though, he heard the sound of his piano. House obviously had a window open and the soft sounds drifted into the street. Wilson actually wasn't the only one who stopped to listen, but he didn't pay any attention to others. He was desperately trying to identify the song because something about it, and the way House played it – almost like an inner conversation with himself – tore at his heart. Suddenly the song and the lyrics came to him. It was Johnny Cash.

_I hurt myself today / to see if I still feel. / I focus on the pain / the only thing that's real. .../ What have I become/ My sweetest friend. / Everyone I know / goes away in the end. .../ And you could have it all / my empire of dirt. / I will let you down / I will make you hurt. / If I could start again / a million miles away. / I would keep myself. / I would find / a way._

Wilson didn't know what to think. Aiko was better, but of course this was the first night since he got her that House was separated from her, and that could explain the melancholy he heard in the notes. But somehow this was more, something else was going on. Surely House wasn't dwelling on the idiot things his father had said? Anyway, only one way to find out. Wilson hurried to the door and knocked on it vigorously. As expected House told him to use his key ("If you are Wilson come in, if not go away, nobody's home"). He got in and found House at the piano, he was still playing but now it was something classical. Wilson's eyes though focused straight away to the tall glass of something golden brown on the piano.

"Relax, Jimmy," House didn't even look up. "It's ice tea. I don't have anything stronger in the house at all. There is a pitcher in the kitchen, help yourself."

"You made yourself ice tea?" Wilson was sure this was how Dorothy had felt when the Scarecrow talked to her. Just too unbelievable to be real, especially after House had been nice nearly all day already; though that might have had something to do with Cuddy. House hadn't wanted to put any more stress on her today; not on top of the stress she got from her guilt-complex.

"Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy," House shook his head at him. "Do you really know me that little? I wouldn't even know where to start. It was Kasumii! She has taken into nannying me, too. I really must have a word with her about that soon."

"But not as long as she provides you with food and drink?" Wilson asked smilingly.

"Do I look stupid?" House countered.

"No I suppose no man would be stupid enough to tell her to stop," Wilson agreed.

"I did decline her offer to parade naked for me, though," House threw in just to see Wilson's reaction. It was most satisfactory as Jimmy had just taken a large gulp of his drink. The poor man nearly choked on his tea and his shirt was definitely ruined.

"House!" Wilson yelled at him once he was able to again. "You should not make up something like that. You could have killed me. Besides, I'm sure Miss Tanaka would not appreciate you talking about her in that vein either."

"Probably not," House agreed. "Though she knows me well enough by now not to be surprised. She would probably just freeze me with her gaze and behave like Queen Victoria at her haughtiest for the rest of the day."

"You already have said something like that to her, haven't you," Wilson concluded. "You are a father now Greg! And of a daughter to boot. You really have to clean up your act. I mean, if you don't start treating women with respect, how can Aiko learn to expect respect either?"

"I respect women," House insisted.

"Maybe," Wilson decided to have an open mind about that. "But you don't show it."

"Sure I do," House said. "Take Cuddy for one. I respect her. I especially respect her cleavage; it's just awesome."

"Never mind," Wilson gave a deep sigh. "Why do I even try?"

Before House could give him the retort that was obviously on the tip of his tongue, there was a knock on the door.

"Didn't you and Cuddy synchronize your watches?" House asked.

"We did," Wilson didn't bother denying. "It cannot be Cuddy." Knowing his friend Wilson stood up and went to answer the door. He found Blythe at the doorstep.

"Mother?" House was surprised to see her. They had talked just before he had left the hospital for the night.

"Am I disturbing your evening?" Blythe asked almost timidly.

"Of course not," Wilson said. "I was just checking if Greg needs something. I'm just leaving."

"Oh, please, don't," Blythe told him. "Not on my account. I just need a word with Greg, it won't take long."

"Mom, what is wrong?" House came to give his mother a hug. Blythe seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"I'm sorry, Greg," Blythe whispered to her son. House looked at her puzzled, but something in her eyes made him think that this was something more than appeared at first glance. In fact this could be about something that happened a long time ago.

"Wilson, would you make us some coffee, please," House asked Wilson without taking his eyes off his mother.

"Sure, I'll be in the kitchen," Wilson agreed readily. Something serious was going on with Blythe.

"What is it, Mom?" House asked as he took Blythe to sit on the couch.

"I had an argument with your father," Blythe revealed. "And the end result was that I told him to go home."

"Alone?" House questioned carefully.

"Yes, alone," Blythe confirmed. "I'm not sure what else will happen now, but I could not have him near me now."

"What was the argument about?" House asked, though he had a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach telling him that he already knew.

"Well we started with Aiko, of course," Blythe sighed. "I truly cannot see what his problem is with her, but he has one. Anyway, that is irrelevant now. We didn't stop there. He finally told me what had happened between you two during the three weeks I was with my mother when she was ill. I'm sorry Greg. I should have known, I should have seen."

"How? If neither one of us told you anything how were you supposed to know," House told her. "You're not clairvoyant; you don't read minds, though sometimes I suspect that you do. If I didn't tell you about the baths and sleeping out, how were you supposed to know?"

"He should have told me," Blythe said. "He behaved like what he had done was just normal. Just part of bringing up a boy. That it was something all boys needed. But if it was that normal; that much of _no big deal_, why did I hear of it now! Why not when it happened? Why, if that was what he was planning to do, didn't he talk it over with me before I left? He must have known he was wrong. He must have known it was not right thing to do. You were a child! I could, maybe, understand his actions had you been a teenager. Once you had taken a proper interest in sports it could have made sense to _toughen you up_ as he put it. But not when you were a child."

"I'm sorry Mother," House didn't know what else to say.

"You have nothing to be sorry about," Blythe caressed his cheek. "I saw how you had changed, but I thought it was because you felt I had abandoned you. And I had, hadn't I? Then when we found out that you had pneumonia, I thought all your listlessness had been because of that. And that's another thing; **how** could your father have forgotten that you ended up in hospital with pneumonia! But even when that had cleared up, you were changed. And I didn't really see it. I'm your mother! And I didn't see. I thought you had changed because of the illness; that you had grown out of your childhood. And though I was right about that, I should have seen why! I should have seen then, what I see now: how you avoided your father ever since; how you never wanted to be alone with him again. How you actually feared him till you grew old enough to stand up for yourself."

"He's my Father," House pointed out. "How could you suspect him of anything? It wasn't like he had given you any reason to before, or even since. You didn't abandon me; you left me with my father, your husband the one person you **should** have been able to trust with anything."

"I told John off today, for thinking that he is always right though he often isn't," Blythe gave a rueful, almost bitter laugh. "I pride myself of being a judge of people; of being able to tell almost instantly if they are lying. The Fates must really be laughing their heads off right now."

"Mom, you know that when it comes to the people close to us; to the people we love, we want to believe the best of them and that does cloud our judgement," House tried to console her.

"Yeah, I sure believed," Blythe agreed. "And you paid the price."

"Mother, don't blame yourself! Really," House insisted. "I'm ok. Sure it was no fun, but even though you didn't know it, you kept it from happening again. It was a long time ago."

"Yes, it was a long time ago," Blythe admitted. "But for a mother there is no such thing as statute of limitation. He hurt my child! I cannot forgive that; I certainly cannot ignore it. He is not the man I believed I had married. I don't even properly know him."

"Mom, really, don't be so hard on yourself," House worried. "I'm not saying it was no big deal, but I never blamed you for it. You could not have known."

"I love you son," Blythe smiled at him. "But I did fail you."

"No you didn't," House denied. "You were perfect, the world just isn't."

"I used to tell you that all the time, didn't I?" Blythe laughed a little.

"Yes you did. And you were right," House nodded. "So what now?"

"I don't know," Blythe sighed. "I have been married to John most of my life. I cannot quite see past that yet. This is definitely a separation, but will it be more, I don't know. I will not go back to him without some counselling. If he cannot admit that he was wrong and at least apologize to you, I cannot live with him. But I will think of that later. Right now I just wanted to see you and then have some space to think."

"I can get you in touch with a therapist if you want?" House suggested. "Someone to help you sort out your thoughts and feelings before you decide anything."

"That would be helpful," Blythe laughed. "For a man who thinks psychology is _crap_ – wasn't that what you called it? – you sure arrange a lot of therapy for women. Lisa said you and Wilson got her a therapist, too."

"Yeah, but I'm not talking about shrinks," House shrugged. "Therapy can work, if you find someone with common sense and proper contempt for Freud."

"You have someone with common sense in mind then?" Blythe asked.

"Not really, but Wilson knows a lot of therapists," House said raising his voice loud enough to be heard in the kitchen. "He has dated pretty much every one we have in the hospital."

"I heard that!" Wilson responded from the kitchen, taking the slur on his character as a sign that he was expected to join House and Blythe. He brought coffee with him. "Will you stop maligning my character already?"

"What would be the fun in that?" House asked taking two mugs from Wilson and handing one to Blythe. "Are you staying the night on my couch or can you give a lift to my Mother to the hospital?"

"Please, I can get a taxi," Blythe insisted. "Really, I have interfered with your evening enough already."

"Ok, it will take something like twenty minutes this time of the evening so I better call one now," House said reaching for the phone. Once he had made the call and hung up he turned to Wilson: "And in case you are wondering what the crisis was all about, my parents have just separated."

"Oh," Wilson was at loss for words. "I'm sorry to hear that, Blythe. It cannot be easy."

"Thank you," Blythe said. "No, it isn't. But I'm coping. Greg said you might know a therapist who could help me with that, though."

"Yeah, I'm sure I can come up with someone," Wilson agreed. "I will give you a couple of names tomorrow."

"Thank you," Blythe responded.

As the conversation seemed dead after that, House got up: "Come on Mom, we haven't done this in a long time." He took Blythe to the piano and for the next twenty minutes till the cab arrived they played the piano four-handedly. Wilson was more than happy to be the audience for this impromptu concert.


	32. Daddy’s girl

Some two weeks later, when Aiko was eight weeks old, House was at the clinic seeing a young mother and her month old son. The days had gone surprisingly fast; Dr. Higa had returned to Japan the previous week-end – though he was planning on coming back for a longer time. Cuddy was seeing her therapist regularly and managed her stress-levels pretty well and so far her pregnancy was going well, though at five weeks it was still too early to sigh in relief, but at least she was further along than last time. Blythe had gone home for a week-end and got enough of her things to be able to go on for a while now. She did not say anything about her meeting with John, but as she too was seeing a therapist, House hoped that she had talked there. All in all Blythe was getting her life in some sort of order while she was trying to make up her mind about her future. Cuddy had given her a part time job in HR and she was living in a studio upstairs from House and she got a lift to work with him every day.

Aiko was getting better, the crucial two weeks were up and she hadn't had any major side-effects from the medication. Naturally she was miserable for being so sick, but now that they were able to hold her when she wasn't getting her meds, she wasn't totally unhappy; though still there were times when she accepted only House – but since that had been the case even before she got sick, nobody was surprised. Not anymore. The rest of the children were getting better, too and they, too, had their parents helping with their care. Originally the hospital policy had been against it, but once House pointed out that this epidemic was not contagious and there was no reason to keep the children quarantined as long as the parents took the normal precautions and wore protective clothing, the ban was lifted. Of course, House's threat that if the other parents couldn't hold their children he wouldn't let Cuddy hold Aiko either might have had something to do with that decision. The threat had sent shock-waves over the whole hospital. House being human! The end of the world had to be near.

Fortunately during the two weeks that Aiko had needed House and his ducklings most they had had no cases. Though they had had some new patients with Blastomycosis – and they expected to get them for the next six months or so, still – they didn't need House and his team anymore now that doctors knew what to look for. The epidemic and PPTH's part in its discovery – and Cuddy leading the case against Landis – had made front pages for a few days. Mrs. Smythe had actually visited Cuddy trying to settle out of court; or that was the kind interpretation to what she had done. Cuddy had decided to go with it for now, for the sake of Mr. Smythe, who had been most generous to the hospital for a number of years. House called it a bribery attempt.

Mrs. Smythe had called on Cuddy one afternoon when House was in Cuddy's office, too. Cuddy was, once again, trying to make him go and apologize to a patient. Mrs. Smythe had sailed in full of confidence and with a gracious smile on her lips.

"Dr. Cuddy," Mrs. Smythe greeted. "I'm so glad I found you free."

"I am actually in a conference with one of my doctors," Cuddy pointed out. "This is Dr. House. I'm sure you have seen his name in the papers a lot lately." Cuddy was not beating around the bush this time.

"Oh yes," Mrs. Smythe lost some of the warmth in her smile as she turned towards House. "I understand you are the one who thinks my brother had something to do with this ridiculous epidemic. I mean how could you possibly suspect him?! And the idea of potted palms giving pneumonia to children; really! That sounds so farfetched."

"Doesn't it just?" House agreed with exaggerated politeness. "You would need to be an epidemiologist or something to come up with that. And you would need confirmation from EPA and CDC to dare to say it out loud."

"Well, at least!" Mrs. Smythe agreed.

"So isn't it fortunate that I am an epidemiologist and we do have confirmation from EPA and CDC?" House smiled at her.

"Oh," Mrs. Smythe was speechless for a second. "Well never mind all that, I'm sure we are all reasonable people here, so why don't we just settle this here and now so the hospital can withdraw the lawsuit and we can all go back to normal life."

"Your brother endangered the lives of eleven children, and that is just the number we know now, hurt the reputation of this hospital and broke quite a few laws while doing that, and you expect me to just cash your check and forget it?" Cuddy was incredulous.

"My husband has been very generous to this hospital," Mrs. Smythe pointed out. "I'm sure you would not want to loose him."

"I'm sure that the settlement I will get from you and your brother will go a long way to compensating for that loss," Cuddy stated.

"Me!" Mrs. Smythe nearly squeaked. "What have I got to do with this?"

"You own part of his business, don't you? Agreed, you said that you are a silent partner, but still you recommended him," Cuddy reminded her. "In fact you insisted that not only must we have plants, but that we must order them from him. I will definitely advise my lawyers look into you as a possible accessory."

"Dr. Cuddy," Mrs. Smythe tried to gather he dignity. "I don't think I like your tone."

"Now isn't that a coincidence!" House exclaimed. "I don't think I care for your tone either, Dr. Cuddy."

"I'm so glad you agree with me," Mrs. Smythe turned her vapid baby-blues towards House. "You look like a real Gentleman;" (Cuddy choked) "I'm sure you wouldn't want me to suffer needlessly."

"Actually, the problem I had with Dr. Cuddy's tone was that it was way too polite," House smiled. "You see, **I** want to see you suffer. You and your brother nearly killed my daughter. There is no way in hell this gets settled out of court."

"Oh," Mrs. Smythe was stunned.

"That is also the official position of this hospital: we are not settling out of court," Cuddy explained as she escorted – physically – Mrs. Smythe out of her office. "My lawyers will be in touch with you and your brother."

House was still glad that Cuddy had got Mrs. Smythe so promptly out of her office; because when he had said that he wanted to see Mrs. Smythe suffer he wasn't speaking metaphorically. But had he put his cane to the use he wanted to, it might have screwed up the law suit and that would have been bad news for the rest of the plaintives in the suit. He had escaped to the clinic before he went after Mrs. Smythe – though it was true that her visit had made Cuddy forget all about the apology: he hadn't heard of that again. However, just to make sure he had decided to do his clinic hours without complaining (and possibly even without causing complaining) for the next few days. So here he was listening to a worried mom and trying to look interested.

"He just won't stop crying," the mother explained. "My mother-in-law doesn't think anything of it, and I suppose it is possible that he just is that way: a cranky baby. But I would really like to make sure."

"Is he on breast milk or formula?" House asked.

"Both," the mother looked ashamed. "I don't have enough milk for him."

House presumed the mother-in-law had had a few things to say about that, too. "It sometimes happens with first babies, Mrs. Black. And then when you stress about it, you produce less milk and then you stress about that. It can be a vicious cycle. But as long as he gets some breast milk, it helps with his immune system and digestion, so really, no need to worry too much. I cannot find anything wrong with him, so he is probably colicky. I'll write you a prescription for a hyper-allergenic formula. That may help, but there really isn't that much that can be done."

Mrs. Black wanted to ask something more, but before she could House shushed her. He was sure he heard something familiar. A baby was crying outside, in the waiting area. Only House was sure he recognised the sound.

"Excuse me a moment," House said and he walked to the door. He opened it and let out a piercing whistle. It took only a moment for Kasumii to get to him and hand Aiko into his arms.

"I'm sorry, but there was no help for it," Kasumii said. "She woke up and obviously felt too miserable to settle for anyone but you."

"It's ok," House said cuddling Aiko to his chest. She had stopped crying and was clutching his shirt with both her hands quite obviously telling him that he should have been there when she woke up. "I'm done here in fifteen minutes or so. Give me a hand to the chair, will you?"

Kasumii went to the other side of House, who used his right arm to secure Aiko against him. His left arm he put on Kasumii's shoulders and she helped him to hobble safely to the chair. She also gave him his cane again.

"I'll bring your chair down in time for when you finish here," Kasumii said and left.

"Sorry about this," House apologized. "This is my daughter, Aiko. She has been ill, well she still is, though we have managed to get rid of most of the symptoms now. But she is still on heavy medication, so I end up holding her a lot. Mind you, she was a bit of a hug-hog even before she got ill."

"You hold her a lot, then?" Mrs. Black asked.

"She is a baby," House shrugged. "It's not that long ago that she was still inside her mother. The world outside can be a bit scary."

"Your wife doesn't want to hold her?" she frowned.

"I'm not married," House explained. "I sort of inherited Aiko when her parents died in an accident. They were friends of mine. Now it's just us and we try to make the best of it."

"You hold her every time she cries?" Mrs. Black asked.

"Pretty much," House admitted. "Unless she cries because she needs to be changed. Then I change her first; then we cuddle."

Mrs. Black watched House and Aiko for a moment seemingly considering something.

"You know," she then said. "I think the only thing wrong with us, me and my son, is that we are stressed out."

"It is quite possible," House admitted. "Becoming a parent is a big thing – and coming out into this world is possibly something even bigger. Shock and stress is only to be expected."

"Yes, I quite agree," Mrs. Black nodded. "I think that what I need to do is to reduce the stress as much as I can and then we will both be just fine."

"Ok," House nodded feeling a little surprised. "Do you want that formula?"

"Yes, please," she accepted. "I cannot be sure that I will have enough milk for him even after I get the stress under control."

"Ok, here you are," House said and gave her the prescription.

"Thank you," Mrs. Black said and gathered her things and her baby.

"Might I ask what it is you are going to do to reduce your stress?" House queried.

"I'm going to tell my husband to go _do_ himself and then I'm going to tell my mother-in-law to eff off – only I will use the real words once there are no children around. Then I will pack our things and me and my son will go to my mother and I will raise my son the way I want him to be raised," Mrs. Black told House.

"Hmm," House mused. "That does sound like a viable plan."

-----------------------------

Kasumii brought House's chair to him as promised. Cuddy was with her because she had gone to see Aiko and had been told that Aiko was with House.

"I am so proud of my little girl," House told them gleefully. "She has just caused her first divorce."

"What?" Cuddy exclaimed. And House told her what had just happened with Mrs. Black. Cuddy stared at the two of them appalled. "So what you are telling me is that I can expect a visit from Mr. Black and his mother complaining about how you encouraged Mrs. Black to ... "

"I didn't do anything," House insisted. "It was all Aiko's doing, honest. I can't help it that she is such a Daddy's girl."

"She is two months old," Cuddy nearly yelled. "There is no way she had anything to do with this."

"Fine, whatever you say," House shrugged. He didn't care what Cuddy thought, he knew better. He sat into his wheelchair that Kasumii had ready for him and wheeled his way to the lifts. Cuddy stared after him in exasperation. She read the bumper sticker the ducklings had given House a few days back: _Baby on board_ and she had to wonder if it was Aiko that meant, or House.


	33. Baby whisperer

_Thank you all again for your reviews! This is getting to be a longer story than I expected, but since I still like writing it and you seem to like reading ... :) _

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The first morning after Aiko had been allowed to come home, Kasumii found House asleep in his bed. Aiko's crib was empty and at first Kasumii felt a horrible jolt, but no sooner had she felt it than she realised that she was still hearing the little noises Aiko always made while sleeping. Taking a closer look at the bed, she realised that House had made a sort of nest for Aiko in his bed. There were some pillows and blankets there that made sure Aiko could not kick herself off the bed, and also to make sure House could not accidentally roll over her or cause harm some other way. House was sleeping on his side, facing Aiko and his hand was resting on Aiko's chest, like he was both protecting her and feeling her breathe. For a moment Kasumii was at a loss. She didn't know what to do. She stood there, watching those two people who had both become unexpectedly important to her and tried to think what to do. Finally she decided to get Aiko's bottle ready, because that was the one thing Aiko was not willing to wait for. Or strike that, the bottle was the second thing Aiko was not willing to wait for; House was the first, but she already had him, so Kasumii figured that the bottle was next.

Some ten minutes later Kasumii returned to the bedroom with the bottle only to face another dilemma. Aiko was stirring, the bottle was ready, but how was she going to get Aiko without disturbing House. Fortunately before she had to make any decisions House, too, woke up.

"Give me that bottle," he said. "I'll feed her while you get her bath ready."

"Thanks," Kasumii smiled and turned to go.

"Oh, and my mother will probably be down soon, too." House reminded her of the change in his _household_.

"I'll start the coffee, then too," Kasumii nodded.

"Mom will probably make us pancakes," House raised his voice to make sure Kasumii heard him. "She has been rather spoiling me lately."

"Sounds like comfort-food," Kasumii responded. "You won't need it that much now that Aiko is home."

"Shhh! don't tell her that," House admonished her. "It's true that Wilson makes the best macadamia nut pancakes in the world, but my mother has this amazing cinnamon and apple pancake recipe she got from her mother and I am not giving them up until I absolutely have to."

Kaumii laughed at him as she went to get Aiko's bath ready. She had just got everything ready when she heard Blythe's key on the door. Kasumii greeted Blythe with a smile and went to get Aiko. She carried the baby into the bathroom and once House had kissed his mother good morning, he took over while Kasumii went into the kitchen to talk with Blythe and see how her work needed to adjust now that there was another woman in the family.

Blythe was in the kitchen making pancakes as House had predicted. She declined Kasumii's offer to help and they discussed Kasumii's work and normal schedule for a moment. They got along well, and adjusting the routine Kasumii and House had established for Aiko to accommodate Blythe as well, didn't take long. Kasumii started on the coffee and took the plates and cutlery out ready for use.

"So how is your flat?" Kasumii asked Blythe.

"A bit young for an old lady like me," Blythe laughed. "But even so, I'm happy there. Though I suspect it's mostly because I'm close to my son."

"You were surprisingly lucky to find a flat right here, in the same building," Kasumii noted. "How did it really happen?"

"My son is how it happened," Blythe said. "Somehow he found out that the artist upstairs from him, Neffie, had got a scholarship to go to Europe to study for six months; only she had to leave in two weeks. He dragged himself up the stairs and asked her, pretty much out of the blue, if she would be interested in subletting her flat to me. She was interested so Gregory set up a meeting and since we got along, I got the flat and she went to Europe."

"Neffie?" Kasumii queried. "That's an unusual name."

"She likes it better than her real name," Blythe smiled. "Her father was a Greek scholar and named her after the goddess Nephele, the mother of Phrixus and Helle. It's from the story of the Golden Fleece."

"I think I'd prefer Neffie, too," Kasumii agreed.

"But she is an excellent artist," Blythe told her. "Her paintings are really powerful. I'm just surprised that she didn't get the scholarship straight away but had to wait for a cancellation place."

"Her paintings are still in her flat?" Kasumii asked.

"Yes. That was one of the reasons why she was happy to sublet to an older woman," Blythe explained. "I am a bit more trustworthy than a student. There is, after all, quite a lot of work and potential money on those paintings."

"So you got a furnished flat at a reasonable price in exchange for babysitting some paintings?" Kasumii concluded. "How did Dr. House know about it?"

"I have no idea," Blythe admitted. "And in fact, Neffie didn't know either. She was quite surprised because she had been under the impression that Greg didn't even know she lived in the building."

"I see," Kasumii frowned a little. "It seems this is again one of those times when he just seems to know things. Possibly through osmosis or something."

"When he was a child, he used to surprise me all the time with the things he knew," Blythe remembered. "Not just the things he could read from books, though that was impressive, but things that happened around us. Things about people we knew; things about the base. There were a couple of times when he knew we were moving before John got his orders. Or even knew he was going to get them."

"Yes, he sees things others don't," Kasumii mused. "And I have reason to be grateful for that. He saved me from a situation that could have turned ugly."

"You like him, don't you?" Blythe asked. "I just mean that it usually takes quite a long time for people to make up their minds about him."

"Yes, I like him," Kasumii admitted. "It may even be a bit more than that. I love Aiko like she was my kid sister. And Dr. House has been to me what I always wanted my stepfather to be."

"What is your relationship with your stepfather, then?" Blythe wanted to know. "If you don't mind my asking, that is."

"It's ok," Kasumii smiled. "It's no secret. My mother married an American diplomat when I was little. I have spent most of my life with my grandparents in Japan, but when I turned fifteen my mother invited me to live with her and her husband here in the States. I have always seen my grandfather as my father, but I expected Gordon to be a sort of an uncle or even a big brother to me. He wasn't. He didn't do anything, mostly because he didn't get a chance, but he did not see me in the light I had expected."

"Ah, I see," Blythe understood. "But Greg is seeing you in the light you expected?"

"He calls me an infant," Kasumii laughed. "That may sting my pride a little, but it is also very reassuring especially as he treats me as Aiko's big sister or something like that. He is the uncle I expected to get when I first came here."

"I'm glad to hear that," Blythe sighed. "It is very comforting thing to hear, as a mother. Though it does not surprise me." Blythe added the last pancakes on a plate already full of them. "Would you call him and tell him that breakfast is ready."

"I will. Aiko needs her medication soon, too," Kasumii turned to go.

House had finished bathing Aiko and he had also given her a massage. Kasumii took Aiko to carry her to the living room, where House's chair was waiting. House got Aiko's medication and prepared it. Then he took Aiko into his arms and started whispering into her ear.

"What is he doing?" Blythe asked Kasumii.

"He is talking Aiko into taking her medicine," Kasumii shrugged a little hesitantly. "I don't know how he does it. Aiko is less than nine weeks old. There is no way she can understand him, but somehow she does. She hates taking the medicine, and who wouldn't, but ever since she was switched into oral meds from the IV this is what has happened. Dr. House talks to her – we don't know what he is saying, but after five minutes or so she will take the dosage and that's it. Of course, he will cuddle her in comfort afterwards, too, but he does not need to force her into taking the drug."

"So you are basically telling me that my son is a baby-whisperer?" Blythe found the idea rather humorous.

"He is definitely an Aiko-whisperer, but nobody has been brave enough to suggest an experiment with other babies," Kasumii did her best to hold back her own laughter.

"Cute," Blythe smiled. "Now let's leave him do his thing and we can get the breakfast served. He'll join us when he is ready."

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Later, after breakfast, House got ready to go to work while Kasumii packed Aiko's things for the day and Blythe cleaned the kitchen. They got into House's car and drove to the hospital. Blythe had about an hour or so before she needed to report to work so she followed her son and granddaughter to the diagnostics department. As soon as Aiko had settled into her crib House went to get a mug of coffee, Blythe declined his offer to get some for her, too.

"You drink far too much coffee, Greg," Blythe worried when Greg returned with his mug.

"I'm a doctor," House pointed out. "We have coffee in our veins."

"But surely it's not very healthy?" Blythe doubted. "All that caffeine. And you promised me you were going to take better care of yourself now that you have Aiko."

"I am taking better care of myself," House insisted. "But if I have to give up alcohol I will not give up coffee. And I will most definitely not switch into that vile decaffeinated variety that they sell on the pretext that it is supposed to be better for you. Even father's need to have some vices!"

"Fine, fine," Blythe gave up. "At least you have given up on drinking, and that does make me happy."

"I'm glad you approve," House smiled raising his mug to his mother.

"Greg," Blythe's voice was almost timid when she said her son's name after a small silence.

"What it is mother?" House immediately caught on that something was bothering Blythe. "Is something wrong?"

"No, not wrong exactly," Blythe said. "It's just... Well, you know I have a therapy session later today?"

"Yeees," House was not sure he was going to like what his mother was going to say. "You have mentioned it a couple of times."

"We have hit a ... well the thing is," Blythe didn't quite know how to say what she wanted. "Thing is Greg, we have hit a bit of a snag. I'm stuck, I keep going over the same ground and Cecil thought it might help if you came along too."

"Cecil?" House asked to gain some time. "Is that with an _e_ or are we talking about a man? Because if it's a man, then Wilson has been hiding things from me. And I must say it's quite a shock to find out after all this time that your best friend has been dating guys."

"Gregory House!" Blythe did her best to look stern. "Yes we are talking about a man and no, James has not dated him. Contrary to your claims your friend has not dated every therapist in this hospital. He hasn't even dated every female therapist, but as an oncologist he knows pretty much all of them as most of his patients need them. And you really need to stop maligning his character."

"But that would be no fun," House whined.

"Greg, really!" Blythe couldn't help it she had to smile at her son. Sometimes it was impossible to believe he was a world renowned doctor. Or even an adult.

"So what does this Cecil want with me?" House deigned to ask.

"He just thinks that it might help me," Blythe avoided his eyes.

"Mother," House sighed. "I already have to deal with Cuddy's overdeveloped sense of guilt. I hope you are not developing one, too?"

"No, of course I'm not," Blythe replied somewhat unconvincingly.

"Fine," House shrugged. "I will come to the therapy with you. I cannot promise that I will even talk let alone be of any help, but I will come. We will see then if there is any point in it."

"Thank you," Blythe was relieved. "I don't expect, or even want, you to do anything against your will. I don't even know what Cecil thinks he will accomplish, but right now we are going nowhere fast."

"I'm sure _Cecil_ has told you that there is no time limit here?" House asked. "I mean - this, you finding out what happened, leaving your husband, trying to start a new life, being pretty much totally dependent on me for now, all this is a pretty big change. Not unlike a death. You cannot hurry yourself. You really need to give yourself time to mourn, too. To go through all the emotions that this brings with it."

"Yes, yes," Blythe assured him. "Cecil is all for letting it all out and examining the emotions and all that. And I do agree with him. I would not have gone back after the first session had I thought he was talking nonsense. But it's not that easy for someone of my generation. It does take some time."

"Ok, as long as that's clear," House nodded more or less satisfied. "I will come to this session with you and we will see if there is any point to it."

"Thank you," Blythe said.


	34. Are you happy?

_Thank you for your opinions I have received! It's nice to see some new names among them, too – as nice as it is to know that I haven't lost any of the old ones either._

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"He looks young," House observed. He was sitting in Cecil's waiting room with his mother. They had just heard the previous patient leave through the other door and Cecil had quickly poked his head into the waiting room to tell Blythe that he was sorry he was running a little late (two minutes to be precise) but he would call her in, in just a moment. "Does he even have his licence?"

"Yes, he has," Blythe replied patiently. "He has a few years of practise under his belt, too. And he suits me."

"Which probably means that he doesn't suit me at all," House grimaced.

"Please be kind to him even so," Blythe asked.

"Well, I suppose he is a bit too young to be a challenge," House mused.

"Kasumii is young, too," Blythe pointed out. "And she can hold her own against you."

"Really?" House asked mildly.

"Fine," Blythe admitted. "She was not a very good example because you like her, and because she is important to Aiko so she probably isn't even in any need to really hold her own against you."

"She also knows Aikido," House reminded. "If I get too outrageous with her, I may find myself manhandled – or in this case I think I'd better say girl-handled into better behaviour."

"Somehow I don't think that would stop you," Blythe sighed sadly. "However, please remember that Cecil is important to me."

"Very well," House touched his mother's hand reassuringly. "I won't savage your little lamb. Though I may give him a warning, if it turns out that he is making too many assumptions based on you being my mother."

Before Blythe could respond to House's words Cecil invited them into his office. They exchanged greetings and took their seats. House started tapping his cane against the floor almost immediately. He could see that Cecil was tempted to say something about it, but ended up deciding against it. Yeah, no match for him so no real fun to be had from that direction. House rested his cane against his chair, leaned back with his elbows on the armrests and brought his fingertips together in front of him in a gesture reminiscent of Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes. Cecil didn't seem terribly reassured. It was possible that the name Dr. House had come up for him in therapy sessions before Blythe's case. And though he might now think that he knew why Dr. House was the way he was, he still realised that he better tread very carefully. As he didn't know about House's promise to his mother, it was possible that some fun was to be had from Cecil after all. House smiled, just a little, and Cecil swallowed. He did compose himself creditably fast, so obviously he was a dedicated professional.

"Please, don't let my son get to you," Blythe said having witnessed the little interlude. "He really does want to help me, even if it means being nice to my therapist."

"That's nice mother," House pouted. "All I have done is to say a friendly hello to your therapist and immediately you cast me in the role of the big bad wolf to his Peter. Only I think you see him more as the duck than Peter?"

"Excuse me?" Cecil found himself unable to follow the conversation.

"He is talking about Prokofiev's _Peter and the Wolf_," Blythe explained, and as Cecil still looked lost she added. "It's a musical fairytale about a boy named Peter and his encounter with a Wolf who has eaten Peter's duck. The Wolf ends up in a zoo, though I suspect that was not the point Greg was trying to make."

"Well I couldn't really call him Little Red Riding Hood, now could I," House grinned. "Not when he hasn't even dated Wilson."

"Greg, stop that," Blythe gave her son a very stern look. "I know that you are just trying to distract Cecil and waste time. I'm not blind..." suddenly Blythe went silent and her eyes looked stricken. "Only I am, aren't I."

House abandoned his pose and took Blythe's hands into his: "Mother, there was nothing to see! Everything that you saw could have been due to the pneumonia. You cannot, you must not blame yourself for it. I never did."

"Nothing to see?" Blythe asked. "There was pneumonia!"

"And as a doctor I have to tell you that there is no way to prove that the cold baths and sleeping outside caused it," House insisted. "Pneumonia is caused by a bacteria or a virus, cold alone is not enough though it can make you susceptible. It is quite possible that I would have gotten it even if he had been everything you expected him to be. It may have been just a coincidence. Even the doctor didn't think there was anything odd about my illness."

"I cannot accept that," Blythe was distressed. "There must have been something that I just refused to see!"

"Mother," House refused to allow her her guilt. "Though I have been able to hide things from you from time to time I have never been able to lie to you. So listen carefully: there were no obvious signs; there weren't even such subtle signs that ought to have made you suspicious. Today we know more about abuse and we are more alert to it, but even today I doubt anyone would have suspected anything. As abuse goes, it wasn't that bad."

"Is that what you think?" Cecil asked mildly. "That it wasn't that bad? Maybe not even real abuse?"

"Are you asking me if I'm making excuses for my father? So that I can love my abuser?" House nearly sneered. "I don't love him. Haven't loved him since then. It was abuse; there really is no other word for it. But I also know that it could have been worse. He didn't hold my head down in the water till I nearly drowned; he didn't make the baths last for hours; he didn't beat me; he didn't abuse me in any other way. It really could have been worse. As my mother said when we first discussed this, had I been a teenager, it might not even have been abuse at all. I knew some sports teams that did things like that as a team. But all were in it voluntarily, all were teenagers and they were not alone. I was a child; I was alone and I certainly did not volunteer. That is what makes it abuse. But it was not obvious and it did not leave marks that could have told Mother what had gone on when she was away."

"So if you didn't blame your mother, who did you blame?" Cecil tried to draw more information. House was not really happy about the direction they were taking, but he knew that these were things Blythe needed to hear so he decided to play along – as long as Cecil didn't get it into his head to think that he had Dr. House as his patient.

"I blamed him," House stated. "For a short time I also blamed my grandmother for having taken my mother away, but that didn't last long. I blamed fate, I think I might even have blamed God, but I'm not so sure I ever really believed in Him, so probably not. Mostly I just blamed him."

"Your father?" Cecil clarified. "What about yourself? Did you think you were to blame? Or that you deserved it?"

"I wondered about that," House pondered. "I think at first I thought I had done something to deserve it, but since I couldn't find any reason, anything that made any sense out of his behaviour I ended up blaming him."

"So basically it was just your father you blamed?" Cecil repeated.

"Yes," House nodded. "It was his choice; and he was there to blame. No need to go further."

"How did that make you feel?" Cecil was finally on firm ground – or so he thought.

"The abuse?" House smiled – not reassuringly. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you."

"I admit that many of my clients are abuse victims, but every case is different," Cecil tried.

"No it's not," House denied. "And I wasn't talking about your cases. I was talking about you. Just because you want to make your clients feel they are more than just one in a crowd does not change the fact that that is what they are. The same as you – and admittedly me. I don't need to tell you how it feels to be abused, you know. That is why you became a therapist."

"You have no way of knowing that," Cecil insisted a little uncomfortably. "I know the cliché is that you become a therapist to heal yourself, but that is not always the case."

"Clichés are clichés because they are often true," House pointed out. "And therapists – apart from a very few genuine bleeding hearts who usually are not good as therapists – become therapists to heal themselves, or possibly someone close to them. You are healing yourself."

"Is that why you became a doctor?" Cecil tried to turn the tables.

"No. To be a doctor does not mean you are a healer," House decided to give Cecil a break. "No, I became a doctor because at the age of fourteen I finally met a man I could admire and I wanted to be like him. Later I got to know him better and found that he truly was worthy of my admiration and much more."

"So the abuse didn't affect your decisions?" Cecil sounded sceptical.

"Abuse is abuse, you don't just shrug it off," House admitted – mostly because he could see his mother listening almost desperately to what he had to say. "It makes you wonder what it was about you that made you the target. Why you were the one who got abused. But dwelling on it doesn't necessarily help anything either. Possibly some people need to go through it again, find some meaning to it – like needing to make use of it by helping other victims if nothing else, but I always thought that this is what life is. Shit happens. Sometimes it happens to you. You take it, you assess your damages and then you limp along the best you can. If you are lucky you find friends, sometimes even love to help you on your way, but mostly you struggle alone. And that's it."

"And that's it?" Cecil didn't sound quite convinced. "You just leave it behind? What if your father was here, right now, wouldn't you want to say something to him? Tell him how his actions affected you? How you felt? Anything?"

"No, I don't think I would want to say anything to him at all," House answered after a moment of thought. "I cannot see it serving any purpose. Sure I could rant and rave at him, but it wouldn't make him change and I'm pretty darn sure it wouldn't make me feel any better. No, I don't think I have anything to say to him at all."

"Isn't there even anything you would want him to say to you?" Cecil was puzzled. True, this was the first time he talked with Dr. House, but usually he got much more out of his patients – not that House was one – even on the first meeting, unless they refused to talk at all.

"Now? I don't think I'd want to hear anything from him either," House mused. "Not now. Now would be too little, too late and I would definitely doubt his sincerity. I used to wish that he had admitted, just once, that I was right. But whatever he would say now would probably be just lip service in an attempt to have mother return to him."

"What was it that you wanted him to admit you were right about?" Cecil asked.

"Nothing specific, actually," House smiled ruefully. "Just anything. I didn't even need him to admit that he was wrong; it could have even been about something that he had no opinion about at all. I just wanted him to acknowledge that I knew things. That I could be right."

"So you really wouldn't want to have a real conversation with him?" Cecil was puzzled.

"It is not possible to have _real_ conversations with John House," House shrugged. "I know you find me hard to understand, but don't feel bad. Most of the people who come to your office want to talk to you, they want you to help them get their life in order; they want you to help them find happiness – or whatever the right word is."

"So you are happy now? Or is it that you don't think you need – or possibly deserve to be happy?" Cecil tried to probe. House was already poised ready to snap his head off, but he could see that this was a very important question for Blythe so he drew back.

"I don't think happiness has ever been an option for me," House revealed. "Nothing to do with the abuse, though I suppose you will think it's a classical consequence. No, it's something else entirely. One of my patients once told me that I have something – a _one thing_ he called it. He had it too, though in different field, but he said that we both have something that consumes us. Something that is more important than anything else. It does not make for a comfortable life because it leaves no room for white picket fences, slippers and blond wives greeting you at the door wearing nothing but a dry martini and a smile. It's a need that can be intermittently satisfied, but not for long and happiness is a rather foreign concept to it. My _thing_ is medical puzzles, though even that is simplifying, but when I'm solving one everything else takes second place. Happiness just doesn't come into it."

"But you are not unhappy, are you?" Blythe finally dared to take part in the conversation.

"Actually mother," House gave her a genuine smile. "I think now I'm the happiest I have ever been in my life. After all, now I have Little Love."

"As a Gift from your true father," Blythe acknowledged.

"I suppose we can say so," House agreed. "Since he has accepted me as the father for his granddaughter, I think I can believe he has accepted me as a sort of son, too."

"What about John?" Blythe asked. "How... what..."

"He no long influences my life, mother," House stated. "It's true I cannot just dismiss him, because he is my father and especially as he is your husband, but he isn't important anymore. You will have my support no matter what you decide to do – even if you decide to go back to him and try and get your marriage back together. I know he has been a good husband – as husbands go – so if he can change enough for you to go back to him, I'm fine with it. I'm fine even if you go back and then decide that he hasn't changed enough and leave him again. You can concentrate on yourself now, on what is best for you. I'm fine. I really am."

"He thinks I'm not capable of going on alone," Blythe admitted.

"Much he knows!" House huffed. "Sure, you have been married to him most of your life, but as a military wife, you have spent more time alone than with him. Besides, you are not alone. You have me, you have Aiko and you have the rest of Aiko's family on your side. You will be fine if _alone_ is what you want to be. Right Cecil?"

"From what I have learned of you Blythe during our sessions you are a strong, capable woman," Cecil said. "Sure, you need my help to sort out all your feelings, - especially the guilt that obviously worries your son, too -, but I cannot see any reason why you cannot decide for yourself what your life should be like from now on."

"So don't let John talk you into anything just because you feel unsure about yourself," House told his mother. "Take your time and tell him to go take a hike if he cannot wait for you to make up your mind on your own time."

"He isn't exactly here for me to tell him to _go take a hike_," Blythe laughed.

"He will be," House warned. "He is right now telling himself that he is giving you time to get this nonsense over with but once you have had enough time – in his estimation – he will come here to fetch you home."

"You think so?" Blythe frowned a little worried.

"Don't you?" House asked.

"I suppose," Blythe admitted. "Yes, that does sound just like him. You are probably right."

"As I said, no matter what you decide I will support you," House told her. "Just as long as I'm sure it really is your decision. Now, you still have half your session left, but I don't think I can contribute anything to it anymore. Why don't I leave you and Cecil to talk and we'll see in my office when you're done?"

"Cecil?" Blythe turned to her therapist.

"I think Dr. House gave us quite a few things to talk about, so yes, I believe we can manage the rest of this session without him," Cecil nearly sighed in relief. Though nothing much had happened, he felt like a tornado had swept through his office.

"And any future sessions?" House raised an eyebrow at Cecil

"Depends on Blythe," Cecil said. "But I think we should be fine now."

"Good," House said taking his cane and stood up to leave. "I suppose I'll see you around the hospital from time to time then."

"I'm sure," Cecil agreed adding silently in his mind "not if I see you first."

House smiled at him like he had seen right into his mind. Cecil swallowed again.


	35. Free the puppies!

_Thanks for the reviews. Here is a little lighter episode for a change again. Hope you enjoy it._

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A few days after the therapy session with his mother House got to the clinic to do his clinic hours. He hadn't seen Cuddy yet that day, but he had got a short report from Kasumii that morning. Cuddy was now six weeks pregnant and suffering from morning sickness. House had got Kasumii into getting Cuddy a cup of tepid ginger tea every morning and that seemed to help some, but mornings were still a bit rough for Cuddy as she refused to take any medication for the nausea. House wasn't really worried as fortunately the morning sickness was in Cuddy's case true to its name, and only happened in the morning. Cuddy was also starting to show. Not much – except that her breasts were definitely bigger – but as she liked her business suits snug, the gentle increase in the curve of her tummy was clear. Cuddy herself wasn't quite sure how she felt about it all. She was now further along than she had been before, and she had definite visual (and other physical) evidence that she really was pregnant, but she still almost feared believing it.

House took his first file from Nurse Brenda and turned to call the patient when he got face to face with Cuddy, who had just walked out of her office. It took only a moment for House to take in Cuddy's new appearance: she was wearing a loose pale blue blouse or a tunic or something like that. It covered her from neck to mid thigh. He supposed that it might have been the latest in maternity fashions, but he immediately dubbed it as a pastel potato sack in his mind. First of all it was an all wrong colour for Cuddy – or at least he thought so, though the pale, wan look it seemed to give Cuddy could have been due to the morning sickness. Secondly it covered not only her tummy but her cleavage and her ass as well. House slammed the file back on the desk.

"That's it," House exclaimed. "I'm not working under these conditions. Enough is enough."

"House," Cuddy sighed and gave him an exasperated look. "What are you ranting about now?"

"Cuddy, I can accept the ungodly number of clinic hours you assign me," House itemised. "I can accept you suspending my right to order procedures once in a while. I can live with your attempt to steal my parking place. I can live with you yelling at me for performing procedures on patients without clearing every one of them with you first. But this is too much. I will not accept you worsening my working conditions to this extent. It just will not do!"

"And what am I supposed to have done now to _worsen your working conditions_?" Cuddy rolled her eyes. This was going to be a good one, again. Or so she thought.

"It's that potato sack in pastel that you are wearing," House gestured with his hands in disgust. "You know perfectly well that there are only two reasons why I show up at work every day: your cleavage and your ass. You have no right to deny them to me! Especially not now that all sort of interesting things are happening to your puppies."

"This is about my outfit?" Cuddy asked incredulously.

"Well duh!" House went.

"My clothes are none of your business, House," Cuddy insisted.

"They are when you are hiding your cleavage and your ass from me," House countered.

"MY cleavage, MY ass, House," Cuddy stated. "What I do with them is MY business."

"You can't flaunt them in my face for over seven years and then expect me to just accept it when you imprison your puppies," House whined. "I could sue you for sexual harassment."

"Because I **don't** show you my cleavage?" Cuddy was amazed.

"Yes!" House insisted. "If you let me believe that your cleavage and your ass are going to be there for me every morning, and then, without any warning, you suddenly deny them to me, that is harassment."

"I think you would have a very, very hard time in trying to make a lawyer agree with you," Cuddy shrugged. "So if this is what I choose to wear, you just have to live with it."

"No," House said. "I will not live with it. The puppies cannot live with it! If you won't free them I will start a sit-down protest outside your door."

"Ooo, I'm so scared," Cuddy gave an exaggerated shudder.

"And I will be holding up a big sign demanding _free the puppies_ and I will have a picture there to make sure that everybody knows what _puppies_ I'm talking about," House gave Cuddy an unflinching stare.

Cuddy turned to look at House and she saw that he really meant what he was saying: "And you really would do it, too!" She understood horrified. She could just see him sitting there when all the important clients and donors came into her office. And she was sure that if she threw him out he would just go on with his demonstration outside the hospital doors. This time she shuddered for real.

"Well, Cuddy," House asked quietly. "Which is it? Will you normalize my working conditions or am I going to have to take drastic measures?"

"Fine," Cuddy ground from between her teeth. "I will wear something more to your liking tomorrow."

"Not good enough," House shook his head. "I don't trust you anymore. We are going shopping right now, and you will change out of that hideous outfit before the day is out. If I let you wear it now you will think that I'm going soft on you because you knocked yourself up and then tomorrow you will come in something almost as hideous."

"House! I did not _knock myself up_," Cuddy protested. "It's not possible as you well know. You are a doctor after all."

"Well as good as," House shrugged. "No need to quibble about the details. Just get your coat and your purse and I'll get Aiko and then we'll go."

"What about your clinic hours, Dr. House," Brenda inserted into the conversation.

"This is much more important," House insisted but when Brenda gave him a fierce glare he took the phone and dialled a number. "Fine, be that way then." When there was an answer on the other end or the line House said: "Chase, get your butt to the clinic. I need to be somewhere else and Cuddy assigned extra clinic hours to you." He then hung up without expecting and answer – though Brenda managed to hear some indignant spluttering before the connection ended. Predictably not all the indignant spluttering came from the phone, Cuddy was producing some of her own as well. "Right that's the clinic taken care of. Cuddy, I'll meet you here in ten minutes." With that House was gone.

"I could be wrong but I think he really meant it," Brenda told Cuddy.

"Damn it," was all that Cuddy deigned to say before she flounced into her office – to get her coat and her purse.

------------------------------------------

Some half an hour later House escorted Cuddy to the boutique where she usually shopped.

"How..?" Cuddy was speechless.

"You once recommended this to Cameron," House deigned to respond as he wheeled himself inside. He took a look around and then wheeled himself to an older saleswoman. With a shock Cuddy realised that he had immediately zeroed on her favourite saleswoman. She watched, with further shock, how he charmed her and then brought her back to Cuddy.

"See what I mean," House said to the woman – Clare, as her nametag identified her. "I mean, if she wants to wear something like that when she is at home, fine, but that does not spell Dean of Medicine!"

"Yes, I quite see what you mean," Clare agreed. "Dr. Cuddy, if you follow me, we have just received a shipment of maternity outfits suitable for a business woman. After all, just because a woman is expecting does not mean she has to sacrifice her femininity or her business image."

Some ten minutes later Clare ushered Cuddy back for House to view. Cuddy was wearing a black tube dress – made of some stretch material House didn't know, but it sure accommodated the changes in her body – and a red jacket reminiscent of an English hunting jacket.

"What do you think Aiko," House asked the baby in his arms. "Is that more the Cuddy we are used to?" Aiko looked straight into House's eyes and made a baby noise that meant absolutely nothing to Cuddy. House, however, took it to be consent. "That's what I thought." He then turned to Clare and said: "We approve."

"It's so nice that you have a partner who is still interested in you as a woman and not just a mother," Clare approved.

"He is not my partner," Cuddy decided to have some revenge on House. "He is my gay friend."

"Oh, Cuddy my dear," House did a perfect _gay-imitation_. "You know I prefer to be called delightful."

"I don't see you as particularly _delightful_ right now," Cuddy grumbled.

------------------------------------

Later on House and Cuddy returned to the hospital, Cuddy was again wearing the black tube dress, but this time her jacket was deep sapphire blue. She also had bags and bags full of other clothes House had made her buy. Not that she really minded. In the end she actually had enjoyed herself and she also had to admit – much to her charging, and never ever aloud in House's presence – that she was glad that House had forced her into wearing maternity clothes in the same style she usually preferred. As House had put it, if she was not afraid to _throw_ her cleavage at people, why should she be timid about throwing her pregnancy at them either? She was a woman, hear her roar!

"You still have your clinic hours to do!" Cuddy reminded House.

"Yeah, yeah," House said. "I'll just take Aiko upstairs."

"I can take her," Cuddy offered.

"Slave-driver," House crumbled but handed Aiko to her good-naturedly.

"Dr. Cuddy," Nurse Brenda called from her desk. "You look good. Much better than this morning."

"Thank you," Cuddy acknowledged, though to deny that the clothes had anything to do with it she added: "I feel much better, too."

"Retail therapy works every time," Brenda smiled, not buying Cuddy's prevarications.

"Oh, House," Cuddy remembered something so she stopped House as he was stashing away his chair and getting ready for his clinic duty. "You said that you knew about that boutique because I had told Cameron about it, but I have been meaning to ask you: How did you know about that flat you got for your mother? I know most people believe that you read minds, but I just don't buy that explanation. So tell me, how did you know?"

"Nah there is no mystery with that," House laughed. "Neffie had a girlfriend with her when she got that letter of acceptance and they pretty much squealed the house down when they opened it in the hallway. There was no way to avoid hearing about he scholarship or her screaming about what will she do with the flat and how will she get everything packed and all that."

"But you couldn't tell your mother that?" Cuddy asked.

"She never asked," House shrugged.

"Right," Cuddy sighed. "And far be it from you to actually volunteer any information."

"Oh, come on, Cuddy," House drawled. "How could I retain my mystique if I volunteered information at the drop of a hat?"

"How indeed," Cuddy laughed cuddling Aiko and walking towards the lifts.

House smiled, too, when he got his first file and called his first patient.


	36. Family and friends

_Happy to hear you liked the previous chapter. I had been dark for so long – especially with Aiko's illness, I just needed to let "House be House" for a moment again._

-----------------------

Kasumii, Cameron and Blythe had gone shopping together. The Annual Oncology Benefit was soon – actually it was the next day so they were a little desperate to find something. They had asked Cuddy to join them, too, but she had already got her dress during her enforced shopping trip with House. Blythe had had a conversation with Cuddy about it, though the conversation had taken a turn that Blythe had not expected.

Having heard about her son's stunt – not from him, though – Blythe went to see Cuddy in her office. She didn't really plan to apologise for House, she was of the opinion that he could do his own apologising, but she thought Lisa might need someone she could rant to. Wilson, of course, would have been quite capable of understanding Lisa's indignation at being forced to comply with House's wishes, but he – being a man – could not understand why Lisa would also be happy about being forced to go shopping. This was a situation only a woman could truly understand.

"You look great, Lisa," Blythe had said as she entered Cuddy's office. "How are you feeling?"

"Confused," Cuddy sighed. "I hope you don't mind my telling you that I hate your son?"

"I quite understand," Blythe reassured her. "Though, I have to admit that I found his threat quite funny. It would truly have been a sight to behold! If only..."

"Yeah, if only I wasn't the Dean of Medicine here," Cuddy had to laugh. "Besides, the main reason I hate him is because he was right. I really cannot understand what got into me! I have never liked pastels and as he pointed out, I have never tried to hide my femininity so why did I suddenly want to blend into the background."

"You just responded to the expectations that society still has for pregnant women," Blythe sighed. "There is still this pressure on you for being nothing but pregnant. It's like now that you have fulfilled your _role_ as a woman, you ought to forget that you _are_ a woman. It has got better these days, as compared to what it was when I was expecting Greg, but it's still there, this Madonna myth."

"I never thought of that," Cuddy mused. "I have always seen myself as a career woman, stress on both of those words. It never even occurred to me that I could be influenced by traditional expectations. Though I suppose I should have understood what I was doing when I chose the _potato sack_ as House called it. I have just realised that my mother used to wear pastels all the time and I have pictures of her, of the times when she was pregnant, where she is wearing covering tunics."

"So when you realised you were becoming a mother you subconsciously looked to your own mother for a role-model of motherhood," Blythe nodded. "Completely understandable."

"Not to me," Cuddy smiled ruefully. "Not when I have spent most of my life trying to be not-my-mother. Please understand that I do love my mother, it's not that. And I do understand that being a housewife is real work. And I have learned to respect her, though when I was a teenager I rather did see her as too subservient to my Dad."

"Yes, the roles where much more defined those days," Blythe agreed quietly. "As, indeed, were things that a girl could do at all. I'm glad women have more choices today."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Cuddy suddenly realised who she was talking to. "I hope I wasn't being insensitive. I didn't mean to imply anything about your marriage. I mean I don't even know what caused your separation from John."

"No, you weren't being insensitive at all," Blythe told her. "In fact you have been very kind and supportive. It's just that my reasons are rather private. But don't worry; I am talking them over with my therapist."

"You like Cecil then?" Cuddy asked. "And feel that you can trust him?"

"Well, if I couldn't trust him before, I certainly can now that he has met Greg," Blythe chuckled. "I think Cecil is a little afraid of my son."

"House can have that effect on people sometimes," Cuddy accepted. "Fortunately not often. But when he wants to he can be a bit intense. But he can also be incredibly ... I don't even know what word to use, because kind just doesn't fit him. Sensitive in the normal meaning of that word isn't it, either. Maybe I just mean that he can be a friend like no-one. When he wants to."

"I'm glad you think that, but I'm not sure it was really very friendly of him to make a scene in full view of the clinic and the patients and then drag you out shopping," Blythe doubted. "A friend might have gone about it a little differently."

"True, but that wasn't really what I was thinking," Cuddy bit her lip in indecision, but then she went on. "When we were shopping I tried to get some revenge on him by telling the saleslady that he was my gay friend."

"Oh! Well, that served him right," Blythe approved. "Though I doubt it fazed him."

"You have that right," Cuddy shrugged. "He just told me he preferred to be called _delightful_. But it wasn't till later, back here in my office that I realised what I had really said, or implied to the saleslady. You see, world being what it is, I'm not the only woman who suddenly, in her forties realises that the time to have children, time to have a family is almost over. That our careers have narrowed our choices more than we originally realised. There isn't time anymore, to have that family later. It's now or never. Those of us, who decide to have a child before it is too late, have usually two ways of going about it. Originally I chose in vitro, but I know people who have gone about it a little more informally."

"Informally?" Blythe prompted as Cuddy seemed to falter a little.

"Yes," Cuddy nodded. "They have asked for a donation, I suppose you could call it, from a gay friend."

"And that is something that people are known to do?" Blythe wondered.

"It is common enough, though as I said not the only way to go," Cuddy nodded.

"So when you told that saleslady that House is your _gay friend_, you inadvertently gave her the impression that he is also the father of your child?" Blythe asked. "Oh, dear. And I'm fairly sure Greg didn't miss that, either."

"It was a bit of a Freudian slip, I'm afraid," Cuddy stated carefully. She wasn't disappointed. Blythe caught on pretty fast; she wasn't House's mother for nothing.

"Freudian slip?" Blythe didn't want to push Cuddy into anything she didn't want to reveal, but it seemed that Cuddy needed to tell somebody. "I'm sure you are not trying to tell me my son is gay, because I'm quite sure he would have told me himself if that was the case. And he most definitely would have flaunted it at his father."

"No, I have definite evidence that he is not gay," Cuddy said. "No, that was not what I _slipped_ about. I was happy for him when he got Aiko, but in some way it also hurt me, because it made my lack more evident. He saw it and he made me an offer I couldn't refuse."

"So as a _delightful_ friend, he gave you a donation?" Blythe asked.

"Yes, though we did it the traditional way, so to speak, so I suppose you might say rather that he contributed to the cause," Cuddy answered. She was watching Blythe carefully for signs of disapproval or shock or something.

Blythe came over to Cuddy and gave her a hug and a kiss: "Thank you, Lisa," was all she said.

"We don't know yet how this all will turn out," Cuddy was a little confused and flustered at Blythe's simple acceptance. "Once my first trimester is over and we can be a little more sure that I won't miscarry, we will have a talk. So far all Greg has said about this is that he will be there for me as much as I want, but that it's all up to me. I still have a lot of thinking to do because now that I have seen what kind of father he is to Aiko, I no longer quite know what I want."

"You will figure it out," Blythe was sure. "And don't be afraid to ask Greg for all you want. If he feels it's too much, he will tell you, but your first priority is to think of your child not Greg's feelings. After all, he doesn't much care about people's feelings when he wants something done. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about this – though I will tell Greg that I know. Thank you for trusting me. And thank you for trusting him."

"When I was originally looking for a donor for my in vitro baby, House told me that I shouldn't go for an anonymous donor," Cuddy couldn't help but smile widely when she said _anonymous_ but she managed to hide it from Blythe. She was sure that that would have been just a little too much information to give to a man's mother. "That I should know who the father of my baby was, because it does matter. It did occur to me then to ask him, but I chickened out. But even so, here I am now: pregnant with his child."

"It will be fine," Blythe reassured Cuddy. "You will have this child, I'm sure of it."

"That's what he keeps telling me, too," Cuddy nodded. "And he also keeps reminding me that I better believe him when he says it, since he is never wrong."

"I'm his mother, so to me he is always prefect," Blythe sighed. "But I can understand how most people can find him pretty infuriating on occasion."

--------------------------------

That same evening Blythe had told House about her conversation with Cuddy. House had said that he was happy that Blythe knew about it, but other than that they hadn't discussed it. There wasn't much point as Cuddy herself didn't yet know what she wanted, how much she wanted Greg to be part of the child's life. But Blythe couldn't help but be happy anyway. Even if there was just friendship between Greg and Lisa, it still meant that there were people who cared about her son, and she was fairly sure, also, that once Lisa's child was born, he or she would become part of the "Aiko-family" as they already called their little group. Who cared about biological parents or what did it matter who the primary caretaker was; Lisa's child would hold the same position in their hearts as Aiko did already. Blythe couldn't help it; she had to smile from time to time for no apparent reason. Fortunately that was not a strange thing to do while shopping, so she didn't need to explain her happy expression to Allison and Kasumii as they browsed through the evening gowns and cocktail dresses to find something to wear for the benefit.

"How about this for you, Blythe," Cameron took out a champagne coloured dress.

"I like the cut, but I have never really cared for light colours," Blythe said. "I think I'd like something in dark blue or black."

"Isn't this the same dress," Kasumii asked from the other side of the rack, bringing out a dress in ink blue. "At least it looks like it."

"Yes, I think it is," Blythe agreed. "Yes, that looks more like what I wanted. I think I'll go and try it on."

A little later Blythe came back dressed in the gown. It was full length gown, with slim skirt. It had sleeves and the neckline was close, but as the sleeves and the upper part of the bodice were of sheer material with a light dusting of beads giving it some sparkle it looked perfect for the occasion.

"I think that is you," Allison said. "What do you think Kasumii?"

"I like it. The colour is softer than black, but still dramatic," Kasumii agreed.

"It feels good, too," Blythe told them. "And at my age comfort is almost as important as looks. Yes, I'll take this one."

"Right, that's one down, two to go," Allison said attacking the racks again in her search for the perfect dress. She had pretty much given up hope on getting House to fall for her, but she still wanted to at least get a reaction from him. She still felt good when she remembered rendering him speechless with her wine red, short evening dress at last years benefit.

"This would look stunning on you Allison," Blythe said. She had found a deep green, short evening dress that was masquerading as a long dress as the skirt that in reality ended in mid thigh was lengthened by long strips of the same silk chiffon as the dress. The dress was strapless, had a sweetheart neckline and some beading on the fitted bodice. It looked young and sexy.

"Yes, I like that," Allison said coming over. "Look, Kasumii, it comes in deep pink as well! You could have that, unless you hate the idea of us wearing the same dress?"

"No, that would be ok with me," Kasumii said coming over as well. She examined the pink dress but then shook her head. "But I can't wear that. The skirt is too short even if the strips do a very good job of hiding it."

"You don't like showing your legs?" Blythe asked.

"That's not the problem," Kasumii smiled a little ruefully. "No, the thing is that I don't want to be sent home to change."

"Who would send you home to change?" Allison wondered. "And why?"

"You are talking about my son, aren't you," Blythe understood immediately. She took another look at the dress. "Yes, I think you are right. He would think the dress is a little too revealing."

"Are you saying we cannot have these dresses because House would object?" Allison was astonished.

"No, no," Kasumii reassured Allison. "You can have the dress. In your case he will just enjoy the scenery. It's just me who needs to be more, well, conservative, I suppose."

"But he has no right to tell you what to wear!" Allison exclaimed.

"He has no right to tell Lisa, either, what to wear, but that didn't stop him, now did it?" Blythe pointed out searching the racks for something else for Kasumii. "But why don't you go and try that on. If it looks as good as I think, then you are all done and all we have to do then is to find something for Kasumii."

The dress was just what Allison wanted and it was perfect fit, so that meant they had found two dresses already; just one more. They had almost given up on that shop when they found a pink dress, that had similar bodice as the one Allison had found, but with a basque waist and a full circle skirt. They were sure the skirt was long enough to meet House's approval, but it was still short enough to look a little flirty. And it sure looked good on Kasumii.

"I think David Grey won't know what hit him, when he sees you in that," Allison pronounced as Kasumii came out of the fitting room.

"You think he will be at the benefit?" Kasumii asked frowning a little. He liked Grey, but she wasn't sure how much or if she even wanted to like him more. Blythe seemed to sense Kasumii's doubts.

"It's just an evening out," Blythe pointed out. "Enjoy it."

"But he has been around quite a lot on the daytime, too," Kasumii pondered. "Not just when there is a party."

"He seems like a sensible man," Blythe said. "I'm sure that you can talk with him, if something worries you. But tomorrow is for fun."

"Unless House finds another patient for us again," Allison sighed. "He did last year. Not that I complain we managed to save the boy, but it wasn't exactly a party."

"Well if he finds a patient then you, and the rest of his team will take care of that," Blythe informed her. "We, however, are hopeless with things medical and we will just party on. But I do hope he won't find a case. You all deserve some fun, too."


	37. The Annual Oncology Benefit, part 1

_Thank you for the reviews. About the ships – there is a sort of House Cuddy going on here, but I'm not quite sure yet how it will go. I have a definite idea – which would be more strong friendship than lovers – but that depends on House and Cuddy playing along with me. They do tend to have a mind of their own. One definite ship I can say, and that is Kasumii and Grey – though even that is not without some difficulties, all things considered._

--------------------

Kasumii had changed her clothes at Blythe's before the benefit to save time, so she arrived at the benefit with Blythe, House and Aiko. When she had come down with Blythe to House's flat House had walked around her with a little frown on his face, but he had finally approved of the dress – and had actually gone so far as to say that she looked exquisite in it. Of course he had ruined the moment by suddenly turning gleeful and saying: "I just can't wait till Grey sees you in that. He will definitely glue himself to your side for the night." Kasumii had just glared at him and taken Aiko, who was dressed in a pale lilac satin romper suit with closed feet, from him and pretty much marched to the car.

When they got to the hospital Cuddy was waiting for them. She was wearing a deep amethyst coloured Grecian style evening dress of chiffon. The dress had a flounce in the front which hid Cuddy's slightly rounded tummy, but not in any obvious way.

"Yep, that's the gown for you," House nodded in self-congratulatory way when he saw Cuddy. At her glare he took Aiko from Kasumii and continued: "And here is your secret weapon. Think she will make all the old biddies loosen their purse strings?"

"Absolutely," Cuddy stated confidently. "As long as you keep your mouth shut."

"Ouch," House flinched. "That was harsh."

"So you left your chair home?" Cuddy asked.

"I figured that if Mom or Kasumii aren't around to carry her when needed, I can always find someone else to carry her," House shrugged. "After all, when I'm just sitting down, it doesn't matter what the chair is like. And I think I can take a few steps with her, too, if I'm careful."

"I agree that there will not be any lack of people who want to hold her," Cuddy nodded taking Aiko from House for a cuddle. "You will probably have more trouble in narrowing the number down. She looks absolutely adorable."

"And so do you," Blythe inserted, deciding to remind them of the presence of other people as well. "That colour suits you, and interestingly enough, it goes well with Aiko's outfit, too."

"It's a cunning plan to get more money out of all the old ladies," House revealed. "Though I did draw the line at telling people that Aiko has cancer."

"Nobody even suggested anything of the sort," Cuddy huffed at him. "Besides, it was your idea in the first place to have Aiko here – though I do approve. But what do you plan to do with her when she gets tired?"

"Either take her to her crib in my office and stay with her or just wrap her to my chest and let her sleep," House told her. "You know Aiko will be happy either way."

"I rather think that she will be happier against you," Cuddy mused. "She feels safer that way, especially now, after her illness. Anyone could tell that what she most hated about being ill was not being able to be held."

"I think that was the hardest thing for him, too," Blythe smiled indulgently. "But how are things here? Is everything going as planned?"

"Oh!" Cuddy winced. "No, things are not going as planned. The benefit arrangements are going as they should, but as you know we have a party at the children's cancer ward, too, and that is not going as planned. We were supposed to have a clown performing to the children and he called in sick. I know; when you get sick you get sick and I most certainly don't want to endanger the children with possible infections, but there is no party! How am I supposed to find someone to replace him in ten minutes?"

"Do you have a piano, there? In the children's ward?" Blythe asked.

"No, Mom, absolutely not, no way, never, no, no, no, no," House started muttering.

"Yes, we do have a piano there, the act was supposed to use one," Cuddy responded a little puzzled.

"Then you have your act," Blythe promised. "Come on Greg." Blythe took Aiko from Cuddy and started towards the cancer ward. Kasumii and Wilson, who had been on his way to greet them, follow her as did Greg, though **he** was protesting all the way.

"Really mother," Greg was still protesting as they reached the lifts. "We haven't done this in ages! And you cannot volunteer me for something without even asking! Mom, this is not fair!"

Blythe ignored him and just led the way to the children's ward. When they got there she gave Aiko to House and went to the piano.

"Come on, Greg," She said. "I need a hand here."

"I don't want to," House pouted.

"Please," Blythe pleaded. "It's not that difficult. Come on, now, Greg. Pretty please."

"I don't want to," House insisted loudly. The kids were starting to follow the argument going on.

"All I need is a hand," Blythe told House. "Surely that is not too much to ask."

"A hand?" House doubted. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, just give me a hand here," Blythe confirmed. "That's all I ask."

"Fine," House relented. "You can have the left one."

"Greg!" Blythe exclaimed exasperated. "You cannot play the piano with just the left hand."

"Fine, if that is the case," House shrugged. "You will just have to make do on your own."

"Ok, very well," Blythe capitulated. "I'll take the left one, if that is all you can spare."

"Well, obviously it is the only one," House said indicating Aiko. "My right one is somewhat occupied at the moment."

Blythe sat down at the piano and Greg dragged his feet there, too, with Aiko against him. He parked his cane next to the piano and sat morosely at the piano.

"Right, you take the left hand then," Blythe instructed and they started to play. Blythe played with her right hand while House used his left. At first it looked like he wasn't even trying to do as asked, but after a while it became apparent that though he appeared to be dragging his - well hand – he actually was improvising to the music. Blythe played the right hand melody, and House followed it, every now and then adding a thing or two to his part. Blythe gave him an exaggerated glare whenever he did that, but the kids seemed to enjoy the sideshow, as much as they enjoyed the actual music. About fifteen minutes or so into their act – and it was apparent by then that it really was an act – House gestured Kasumii over and gave Aiko to her and for the next fifteen minutes or so House and Blythe played the piano four-handed. The children just loved it.

Once they were done with the piano recital, House whispered something to his mother and for the next fifteen minutes or so she played the piano alone while House juggled different objects he found in beat with the music. As thanks he got as much of a standing ovation as it was possible to have with sick children. He took his bow and then told the kids that they were a great audience but it was time for them to go to bed – or else Dr. Wilson was going to have his head. He collected Blythe and Kasumii and of course Aiko, who was in Kasumii's arms, and they left the ward. Wilson stayed behind for a moment to see that everyone was ok even after the excitement. Unknown to House his team and Cuddy had been there too, to see what was going on. They had, however, melted out of sight as soon as it became apparent that House was closing his act.

"Thank you, Greg," Blythe said to her son once they got into the lift to return to the benefit.

"Anything for you, Mom," House smiled. "You know that – unfortunately."

As they stepped out of the lift they came face to face with John House, who obviously had been waiting for them. Blythe lost her smile, but she didn't back from he husband. John looked at her.

"You look beautiful, Blythe," he said.

"Thank you," Blythe acknowledged. "What are you doing here? It's a bit long way for you to come to just attend a benefit."

"I think this has gone on long enough," John stated. "We need to talk."

"An Oncology Benefit might not be the best time or place for that," Blythe told him.

"You didn't see fit to tell me where you live," John pointed out a little angrily. "So I thought this at least would be an occasion where I could find you."

"Mom," House said. "If you want to talk with him, my office is free. I need to get Aiko her bottle anyway." With his words House indicated that she could have a word in private with her husband, but that he, House, would be nearby.

"Yes, perhaps that would be best," Blythe said getting back into the lift and pressing the button for House's floor. Her men followed her.

House stayed in the conference room – getting Aiko's bottle ready and then feeding her – while his parents talked. He didn't try to listen in, which was a good thing as they never raised their voices, but he had just finished feeding Aiko when Blythe stormed out of his office – and there really was no other way to describe her appearance.

"I don't think we have anything else to talk about, John," she stated firmly to her husband who followed her. "All I can say is that unless there is a really drastic change in you, I cannot live with you again. And if ever Greg has any biological children, I hope he is smart enough to never, ever let you near them. You don't deserve to have grandchildren."

"Mother? Mom?" House asked cautiously. Blythe seemed to be on the verge of tears. House decided that the best thing for her was to get out of there as soon as possible. "I have just finished feeding Aiko, why don't you take her downstairs so that Cuddy can implement her cunning plan and use Aiko to get more money out of the ladies?"

Blythe accepted Aiko gratefully and she left the men alone.

"It seems your talk didn't quite go as you expected," House observed.

"You need to talk sense to your mother," John insisted. "I mean this has gone on long enough."

"Mother is a grown woman," House said. "I would think she is quite capable of deciding for herself what is long enough. Or what is enough of anything. ... So what have you been doing these last few weeks? Is the reason you want her back due to the fact that you no longer have any clean clothes and you are tired of eating out or what?"

"Your mother arranged for a housekeeper," John explained. "Obviously she doesn't want to start with cleaning and washing when she returns. I'm fine. Tired of my friends asking when my wife is coming back, though."

"And have you told them that _never_ is a distinct possibility?" House asked ironically.

"Don't be silly," John scoffed. "Of course she is coming back. Though it does seem it takes longer for her to come to her senses than I thought."

"So what have you been telling your golfing buddies and other friends?" House was curious.

"Just that you need help with this child you have," John answered.

"_This child I have_? You mean my daughter?" House queried.

"Yeah, whatever," John wasn't very forthcoming.

"Well, your marriage is your business," House said standing up ready to leave. "Nothing to do with me. But from what I can see, I would not hold my breath while waiting for Mom to return to you."

"It's your doing, isn't it," John accused. "Her turning against me."

"Nope," House denied. "Nothing to do with me. Though I don't really care if you believe me or not. If you need to contact her, I will relay the message, but other than that – I will have nothing to do with this."

"I'm your father!" John exclaimed, like that meant House would have some kind of an obligation to him.

"Yep. And she is my mother," House replied. "This however is about your marriage. About what kind of a man she is willing to accept as her husband. I'm not getting involved with that. Now, if you want to take part in this benefit going on downstairs you can stay – just don't go anywhere near mother – or you can leave."

"Some son you turned out to be," John huffed and stormed out of the room.

"Well that depends on who is talking," House muttered and left as soon as he was sure that John had got downstairs and there was no danger of being stuck in the same lift with him. Once downstairs House got hold of a security guard and found out that John had left the building. He relayed that information to his mother as he got Aiko from her. Blythe relaxed visibly.

"You know Mom, that tomorrow you will have to tell me about what happened," House reminded her.

"I know," Blythe sighed. "But tomorrow is quite soon enough. Today we have a party to attend."


	38. The Annual Oncology Benefit, part 2

"Did I remember to say that you too, look exquisite, Mom?" House asked his mother once he had Aiko in his arms again.

"Yes, you did," Blythe smiled.

"Good," House nodded. "And in case you haven't noticed I'm not alone in that opinion. There are quite a few gentlemen around who have been watching you with interest."

"Well, it is flattering, but I am a married woman," Blythe admonished him a little.

"True, but this is still a party," House pointed out. "No reason why you cannot have charming conversations with gentlemen. After all, it's not like you are going on a date with them or anything, just doing your part for the hospital."

"I suppose it's really not much different from the many functions I attended with your father for his career," Blythe agreed. "But don't you need help with Aiko?"

"She is nearly asleep," House observed. "I'll just get Kasumii help me with the wrap and then Aiko can sleep for the rest of the night. So come along, I know just where you will do most good for the benefit."

Carefully, as he was carrying Aiko, House led the way to a poker table full of elderly gentlemen. There was one seat free there. House introduced the gentlemen to his mother and then said:

"My father was unable to join us tonight and Dr. Cuddy has given me some duties too, so would you gentlemen look after my mother for a while?"

As the gentlemen predictably consented, House gave his mother a stack of chips.

"You do remember what I taught you about this game? Though I'm sure these gentlemen will be quite happy to advice you, too. After all this is all in good fun."

"Oh, don't worry Greg," Blythe told him graciously. "I'm sure I'm in good hands here and this is a benefit, so the more I loose the better for the hospital, right? As you said, this is all just fun."

House took his leave politely from the gentlemen – his politeness alone ought to have alerted them that something was up – and limped carefully to the bar nearby where he saw Kasumii with David Grey.

"I need your help, infant," House said to Kasumii. "Aiko is ready to sleep so I need the wrap."

"I have it in Cuddy's office with the rest of Aiko's things," Kasumii said leaving to get it.

"So, not playing?" House asked Grey while they waited for Kasumii to return.

"Miss Tanaka doesn't play," Grey responded as if that explained everything – as it indeed did.

"She looks pretty good in that dress," House observed a little gleefully. "Though I did hear she was originally considering getting a similar dress as Cameron is wearing."

Grey turned to look where Cameron was standing – surrounded by admirers – took a look at her dress, closed his eyes and gulped. "I'm glad that Cameron got hers first and women don't like wearing similar outfits."

"According to my mother, that was not the reason," House said getting a drink from the bar – mineral water as usual these days. "Apparently Kasumii figured that if she were to wear a dress like that I would have sent her home to change."

"And would you have?" Grey asked curiously. He wasn't quite sure where House was going with this conversation, but he had a feeling there might be a warning of sorts somewhere there.

"Of course," House admitted. "She is Aiko's nanny. I can't allow her to be swept off her feet by some over-enthusiastic young man for the next eight years or so."

"What if the young man isn't over-enthusiastic?" Grey wondered.

"The thing about Norland training is that though the Nanny might not actually live in with the family the children are still her first priority 24/7," House spoke to his glass. "When she chose this career, Kasumii also chose to have her heart broken on regular basis. She is Aiko's Nanny now, but in time Aiko won't need her anymore. So no matter how much she loves Aiko, Kasumii will move on to the next family, the next child or children and repeat the process all over again. It takes a lot of dedication to decide to do that. Any young man hanging around her needs to take that into account. And respect it."

"And if he doesn't? Or can't?" Grey pondered.

"Then he better get out while he still can," House observed. "Before something really painful happens to him."

"So he better make sure his intentions are honourable, or he better not hang around," Grey concluded.

"Honourable is such an old-fashioned word," House frowned. "It rings of wedding bells and such. That isn't really my business. I just expect her to be treated with respect. Other than that, she is old enough to make up her own mind. And she does know Aikido."

Before Grey could say anything in response to that Kasumii got back and helped House wrap Aiko to his chest. Aiko was asleep before they finished the procedure.

"Right, I better go and find myself a table to clean," House said getting up and looking around.

"You are not joining your mother then, at her table?" Kasumii asked.

"Goodness, no," House said. "She will have them in their skivvies in an hour without any help from me. Or, possibly it may take her an hour and a half as Dr. Carson is there, too."

"But didn't you imply to them that she is a novice?" Grey questioned.

"Of course I did," House shrugged. "You don't tell a mark that he is a mark, now do you? Right, I can't go to Cuddy's table, because if I win her, she will make me do more clinic duties – especially after that shopping thing. Wilson seems to have his table, no need to go and mess with that arrangement. Ah, there is an opening at the ER table, I'll go and clean them up."

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Some three hours later there were three people standing, Blythe, House and Wilson.

"Well, this is interesting," Blythe observed as they took their seats at the last table.

"So how do we play this," House asked. "I mean, I might as well fold right now as I have never been able to lie to you, Mom."

"But you have been able to keep things from me," Blythe pointed out.

"True, and Wilson is still here, so that might throw things a little," House nodded. "Ok, so it's no mercy?"

"No mercy," Blythe smiled back and they settle down to play.

In half an hour Wilson was out. Two hours later both Blythe and House still had about the same amount of chips each. There was no telling which one of them would win. Nobody had left the benefit yet; everybody wanted to find out how this mother-son play would end. An hour later, when the sun was starting to come up, Cuddy had to come over and say that it was time to gather their chips and call it a draw. They needed to start clearing the place up for the next day and business as usual.

"No, we cannot call it a draw," House refused. "Or what do you think Mom?"

"I agree," Blythe said. "One last hand and winner takes all. No bluffing, the cards will decide."

They pushed their chips into the middle of the table and the cards were dealt. As there were no bids or calls just all in it didn't take very long. In the end the winner was Blythe. A cheer went up from the crowd and Blythe thanked them graciously for the applause. House gave her a hug – which he was able to do properly as Aiko was in her crib. Grey had carried it into Cuddy's office some four hours before and Kasumii had taken Aiko into it. The ducklings had taken turns with Kasumii and Cuddy to watch Aiko since then. Everyone found the ending satisfactory and the next day Cuddy was able to tell that this year they had made a record profit from the benefit. She attributed that to both Aiko's presence (she really had softened quite a few ladies to part with large checks) and to the fact that the "House-game" had kept people in place for the whole evening – so they had cleaned up on drinks as well.

------------------------

Cuddy had invited them for a coffee and winding down after the party, but House had taken Aiko and Blythe home straight away. Kasumii was going home with Cuddy and she had the day off as she had been in "half-duty" the whole night. When they got home House took Aiko to her crib – she was still sleeping soundly – and his mother made some tea to drink. When House got back from his bedroom, Blythe was sitting on the couch warming her hands on the mug but not drinking. She was deep in thought.

"So what was it your husband wanted?" House asked. He didn't want to call John Dad here, though he didn't really have a problem with that, but as this was about Blythe's marriage he wanted to show that he was on her side, no matter what she decided.

"He wanted things to go back to the way they were before," Blythe shrugged.

"Before you knew, you mean?" House wanted to make sure.

"Yes, before I knew," Blythe agreed. "And before you got yourself an un-American kid."

"Ah," House didn't know what else to say. He had always known that his father's version of patriotism meant that other nations and nationalities were inferior, while his mother's version had been also a basis for understanding how others could be equally proud of their countries and cultures. Apparently Blythe hadn't come face to face with that difference before now.

"You don't sound very surprised," Blythe observed. "You knew this about him, didn't you?"

"Yeah," House admitted. "I have been aware of it quite some time."

"I used to think that I had pretty sharp eyes, that I could see things and understand things," Blythe sighed. "Pride apparently does come before the fall. Now all I see is how blind I was."

"You love him," House said simply. "They do say that love makes you blind. And he hasn't been that obvious about it."

"But you saw it," Blythe pointed out.

"Well, I was rather looking for his faults, you know," House explained. "I didn't want to admire or love him, so for every good thing that he had – and has – I wanted to find a bad thing about him."

"Because of the abuse?" Blythe hesitated but decided to bring that subject up, too.

"Yes, because of that," House admitted plainly. "I do not believe I would be much different had it never happened, but it did have its effects too."

"I cannot believe that I lived with him so long and couldn't see what he was like?" Blythe was amazed. "How could I have loved a man like him?"

"Mom," House took the mug from her hands and took her hands into his. "You do know that you still love him. You cannot just put forty years of mutual history inside a box tagged _mistake_. He has his faults, big ones, ones you hadn't seen, but he has his good qualities too."

"I suppose," Blythe sighed. "I must have stayed this long with him for a reason."

"So what now?" House asked. "He didn't just come in for half an hour conversation did he? Even he cannot have believed that you would go home with him just like that."

"No, he didn't," Blythe revealed. "He is staying in a hotel and he is coming to see Cecil with me this afternoon."

"How did you manage that?" House was surprised. "I would have thought a therapist was the last thing he ever wanted to see."

"It is," Blythe laughed a little. "That is one of the few things that you two agree on. But I didn't give him a choice. Either he attends therapy with me – or if not therapy then marriage counselling, I'm not sure yet where this will go – but we need help and either he participates or this marriage is over right now."

"And he wants to stay married to you," House stated.

"Yes. I don't know if he can change enough for me to go back to him," Blythe mused. "But as you said, forty years is a long time. I need to try this. If he can see his mistakes, if he can change enough, then maybe I can go back. But I'm not very optimistic."

"You have my support no matter what," House told her. "You do what you need to do. But right now you need to go to bed and get some sleep. You have an important session this afternoon."

"So I do," Blythe agreed and stood up. She kissed her son on the cheek. "Thank you, Gregory."

"Hey, what are sons for?" House responded as he escorted her out.


	39. Relationships

_Ok, this is the last update before next week-end again. Holidays are over, so it's back to normal work-week schedule (sniff...). Thanks for the reviews; it's good to have feed back :). And kaleidoscope60 thank you for going on with this even though it's Huddy. I hope it comforts you to know that it's not going to be heavy._

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Day after the benefit House was in his office in the afternoon. His ducklings were all having the day off, but House had offered his mother a lift to the therapy. Blythe had been nervous enough about it as it was, House saw no reason to make her spend her time alone till the appointment. They had had breakfast together around noon and then House had got Aiko and they had driven to the hospital. It was still early, but they had House's office in which to wait. And talk.

"I'm not even sure he will come," Blythe worried.

"He said that he will," House pointed out. "He has his faults, but he tends to keep his words. Not keeping it would be too much like lying."

"And he would have a problem with lying all of a sudden why?" Blythe's voice dripped with irony.

"You know he never lies," House smiled, with equal irony, at his mother. "It's just that so many other people are misinformed and mistaken that to an untrained eye his truth seems like a lie."

"So our marital problems are due to me being misinformed and mistaken?" Blythe queried.

"Precisely," House confirmed. "After all, he hasn't changed, has he?"

"No, I suspect that he most definitely hasn't," Blythe sighed. "It's just that I have had my eyes opened."

"He probably won't see it that way," House doubted.

"Are you telling me that you don't see any point in me dragging him to this therapy session?" Blythe asked bluntly.

"I'm sure he is all for you having therapy, he just won't see why he needs to be there," House explained. "You are the one having problems, he was perfectly happy with the way things were."

"He abuses my child, hides it from me for about forty years and I'm the one with a problem?" Blythe was working up a nice head of anger.

"Is he admitting that it was abuse?" House asked.

"No," Blythe shook her head. "No he isn't. Anymore than he admits that his position about Aiko is totally wrong. What does it matter that Aiko is Japanese? You love her! She makes you happy! What more can a parent want from or for a grandchild? If he cannot love Aiko, he has no right to have any other grandchildren either."

"Hey! Mom, I'm not setting up any kind of production line for grand_children_ here!" House reminded her.

"Sorry, yes, I know," Blythe simmered down a little. "Is this hopeless? Trying to get him attend therapy? Trying to get him to see this at least from my point of view if not yours?"

"Mom, you are no quitter," House told Blythe. "You have been married close to fifty years. True, for about forty of them he has had this secret you only now found out about, but it's still a long marriage. Even if this is the end of it, you need closure! It's most of your life. Yeah, getting Dad to co-operate will be difficult. The best you can hope from one meeting is that he admits that if you have a problem with something he has done then it is not just your problem but his as well. And hopefully he will agree to see counselling about it. I don't think he will agree seeing a therapist, at least not alone, but some kind of marriage counselling is a possibility. Anyway, you need to try this."

"I suppose so," Blythe sighed. "I just don't feel very hopeful about any of this."

"I know," House gave his mother a hug. "But that's ok. You just need to see this through. Only, do remember that I'm more than an abuse victim. Many things have made me what I am, and most of the good things are thanks to you. And now Aiko."

"Yes, I suppose it never hurts to have Little Love in your life," Blythe smiled and hugged him back. "Thank you. Now I better go before I'm late for the appointment and John decides that I'm not coming and leaves."

--------------------------

Blythe had been gone for about half an hour when House heard someone enter his office and looking up he saw Kasumii. She was not wearing her uniform – as she shouldn't have since it was her day off. She was wearing dark slacks and a blouse in her favourite pink.

"Kasumii?" House asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I agreed to go out with David Grey," Kasumii revealed. "Just to eat something; a late lunch."

"And you figured that the diagnostics department would be empty today, so you decided to have the lunch here?" House wanted to know.

"No, of course not," Kasumii smiled a little. "No, I just figured you might be here as I knew your mother has a therapy session today."

"And why would you want to see me before your date with Grey?" House was puzzled. "I mean, I do behave like I had the right to monitor your comings and goings, but you are 21."

"It's not that," Kasumii sat down, lifting her feet to the seat as well and hugged her knees. "I just feel a little confused."

"Hang on," House was all attention. "Are you planning on asking relationship advice from me? Are you insane?"

"No, I'm not insane," Kasumii laughed. "And I don't even know if I want advice. Maybe I just came here to tell you that I'm going out with David in order to have you order me not to do it, so that I could have an excuse not to go."

"If you don't want him around, you are perfectly capable of telling him so yourself," House frowned. "You don't need any excuses. You have the right to like or dislike anyone you want."

"It's not that I don't like him," Kasumii confessed. "I'm just not sure I want to like him more than I do now. Or even this much."

"Look, I'm the last person you can ask advice from," House told her earnestly. "Not only am I totally hopeless with relationships, I'm also very biased when it comes to you. Aiko is my first priority and you are important to Aiko and her care. But, even so, I think Grey is a grown man. He can look after himself. Give him a fair warning; explain to him why you don't want to like him, or whatever reservations you have and let him make up his own mind about seeing you again or not. Though you will see each other from time to time no matter what, as Grey is my therapist – and he has already sort of attached himself to Aiko, too. As long as he knows the situation, it's his choice. If things get too difficult, I can find another therapist. I cannot find another Norland trained Nanny who speaks Japanese."

"You think he would understand?" Kasumii wondered.

"I have no idea," House said. "I hope so, but if you want more advice you better talk to Wilson. He has had more relationships than I can even count. Sure, most of them failed, but he also knows a lot of therapist, so at least he can recommend one."

"And here you are, maligning me again," Wilson griped from the doorway. "You weren't even supposed to be in today, but here you are. Did you come for the specific purpose of getting a chance to blacken my character or was that just a bonus round from something else?"

"I brought Mother for he therapy session and Kasumii stopped by to ask for relationship advice," House explained.

"Relationship advice? From you?" Wilson nearly keeled over. "Miss Tanaka, are you insane?"

"He already asked that question," Kasumii smiled. "And no I'm not. Just a little confused. But I think I'll be fine."

"Miss Tanaka?" Grey too had found his way to House's office. "Are you ready?"

"She is," House responded for Kasumii. "My office is starting to resemble the Central Station so get out of here!" Grey and Kasumii did as told and left.

"Am I supposed to go too, or?" Wilson wanted to know.

"You are practically part of the furniture so you can stay," House said magnanimously.

"Thank you for those kind words," Wilson flipped sitting down opposite to House. "So you brought your mother to therapy. How is she doing? This separation must be hard for her."

"Yes," House nodded. "John is here, too. He came to see her last night and he agreed to come to the session today."

"That's good," Wilson tried cautiously. "Right?"

"Possibly," House drawled. "On the other hand therapists are one of the few things that Dad and I agree about."

"You think they are total waste of time," Wilson observed. "Are you telling ...?"

"Yep," House said. "I don't have very high hopes for the meeting."

"But John still agreed to go?" Wilson repeated.

"Yes, but he is probably hoping that the therapist will tell mother to get over it, that it was nothing to get so upset about." House sighed.

"You never told me what it was that caused the separation," Wilson tried to pry.

"No, I didn't," House observed.

"Well, what was it," Wilson decided to try the blunt approach.

"Nothing," House replied quietly.

"Somehow I don't see your mother as the sort of person who leaves he husband over _nothing_," Wilson said.

"True," House admitted. "It's just that it happened a long time ago. Nearly forty years ago."

"And she leaves him now? Why not then?" Wilson was stunned.

"She only found out about it now," House revealed. "They had an argument about something else and it slipped out. I imagine Dad was quite surprised at Mother's reaction."

"Did he have an affair or something? Do you have a brother or a sister somewhere that your mother never knew about?" Wilson tried to figure out what could possibly be important enough after forty years to cause a separation.

"No, nothing like that," House denied. "I don't think father has ever been unfaithful. Or if he has, they dealt with it then. No, infidelity is not something John House would think of as _nothing_. He is a marine after all, _semper fi_."

"Well I cannot imagine what could possibly be important enough to cause a divorce forty years after the fact," Wilson puzzled. "Unless it's child abuse. That I think any mother would find hard to accept but you ..." suddenly, having realized what he had just said, Wilson went quiet. "House...?"

"Yes," House had turned his back to Wilson but his voice was not responding to Wilson saying his name. He was clearly answering his question in the affirmative.

"You mean ..." Wilson swallowed. "And she never knew?"

"She was away when it happened," House said. "And as it was just cold baths and sleeping out, there were no signs or marks for her to wonder about. I did get pneumonia, but that could have been just a coincidence and even the doctor didn't think anything of it."

"How old were you?" Wilson asked.

"A child," House said. "Seven or eight can't quite remember. Under ten, definitely."

"That ..." Wilson didn't get any further than that.

"No, that does not explain anything about me," House anticipated what Wilson was going to say and turned to face his friend. "Except my relationship with my father, of course."

"Actually I was going to say that though your father might see the baths and sleeping outside as toughening you up, you were too young," Wilson inserted. "He must have known that."

"John House is not big on admitting to mistakes," House grimaced. "If he ever will, it will take a long time."

"I don't think your mother will even think going back to him until he does admit it was a mistake, though," Wilson mused.

"Highly unlikely," House agreed.

"So, you are saying that the abuse didn't affect you?" Wilson threw in experimentally.

"I don't see it as a defining moment in my life, no," House said. "It was a defining moment in my relationship with my father, and that in turn has – naturally – affected other things in my life, but I don't see that I would have been much different even without the abuse. The world is not a perfect place and we all muddle through it the best we can."

Wilson was not happy with that answer but as Blythe came back to the room just then, he had to drop the subject.

"So how did it go?" House asked his mother.

"Pretty much as you predicted," Blythe admitted ruefully. "But he did agree to marriage counselling. Once a month."

"That is hardly enough!" Wilson exclaimed.

"Cecil didn't think so either, but that was the best we could get him to commit himself to," Blythe agreed. "And it is a start."

"With him, that's a pretty good start," House insisted. "I was pretty sure you would need to force him to attend at least one more therapy session before he agreed to any kind of regular meetings with any kind of counsellor."

"I suppose you are right, Greg," Blythe mused. "This is a pretty good start. We will see where it leads."

"Right," House stood up. "Ready to go home or do we need to stop somewhere on the way? Wilson, you want to come with us or do you have patients?"

"I came to see one but I'm done for today," Wilson said. "Yeah, I can come with you."

"Good," House announced. "Then we can do some shopping and you can cook for us."

"House!" Wilson protested good naturedly, while Blythe just shook her head at her son.


	40. The Nile

_TGIF! Here is the next chapter and thank you for your reviews!. _

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"Cuddy!" House yelled as he barged into exam room three. Cuddy was there with a woman in her mid-thirties. Peripherally House registered that the patient was a pretty good-looking woman. Would have been a really good-looking woman, had she looked a little less care-worn.

"House! I'm with a patient!" Cuddy yelled back, though with restrain. "I'm sorry Mrs. Flint; Dr. House can be a little abrupt sometimes."

"I need your ok for a brain biopsy," House informed Cuddy completely ignoring Mrs. Flint.

"I already said that I'm with a patient, House," Cuddy admonished him. "Normal Doctors take that as a hint that they should come back later. Like after I'm finished here."

"Oh, come on, Cuddy," House shrugged indifferently. "All I need is your ok to biopsy a tumour; you can give it without inconveniencing the patient. I'm already here, after all, and she's not due for another five months or so."

"House!" Cuddy was shocked. "Could you be just a little more insensitive? Because I think you didn't quite hit your record yet."

"I'm not pregnant," Mrs. Flint said quietly with some tears in her eyes.

"Why do all women say that to me?" House sighed exasperated. "They claim that they haven't had sex for over a year, or that they are using a birth control implant or they have been sterilized – actually that time it **was** a tumour; benign, mind you – or they claim that I cannot possibly know so early on in their pregnancy."

"I'm not divorced, yet," Mrs. Flint told tightly. "But my husband moved out of our home six months ago because I cannot have children. I'm infertile."

"Says who?" House asked coming over to her. He pushed her to lie down on the examination table, lifted her blouse and squirted some gel on her tummy and then he reached for the ultrasound; all this while Cuddy spluttered protests at him.

"We tried for a baby for a year, my husband and I," Mrs. Flint said. "When nothing happened we got tested. The doctor said I was the one. My husband left me the next day."

"Well, obviously you didn't go to a very good doctor," House observed. "Because he was wrong. It is your husband who is shooting blanks." House turned the monitor of the ultrasound towards Mrs. Flint. "That's your parasite there."

Mrs. Flint stared at the monitor with wide eyes; as did Cuddy.

"I cannot believe this!" Mrs. Flint whispered. "I cannot believe this..."

"Believe it," House said. "Sixteen weeks or so, I'd say. And it's a girl. Congratulations."

"I'm going to have a daughter," Mrs. Flint smiled practically from ear to ear.

"Yep," House stated. "So, if you haven't been around your husband for the last six months, who were you around some four months ago? Just curious, you know."

"That is enough House," Cuddy finally got her act together. She had been distracted by the ultrasound – the evidence of House having been right yet again! Drat the man – but she snapped back to attention now. "Sit down and shut up or I will page your mother!"

"Ouch," House grumbled as he took a seat. "That's a low blow."

"Shut up and behave," Cuddy told him turning then to Mrs. Flint. "Congratulations, I will schedule your prenatal care. And I'm sure your husband will be happy to hear there is no need for the divorce after all." Cuddy ignored the snort that could be heard from House's corner.

"Actually, Dr. House was right," Mrs. Flint revealed ruefully. "As my husband hasn't been around for the last six months I need to think who was four months ago."

"Told you," House crowed _sotto voce_ earning a glare from Cuddy.

"It hit you hard," Cuddy asked sympathetically. "Your husband leaving you?"

"That, and believing that I would never have a child of my own," Mrs. Flint sighed.

"One night stand?" House asked ignoring Cuddy's frown.

"Sort of," Mrs. Flint didn't seem to mind, though that might have been because she seemed to be in a bit of a daze. After all, her world had suddenly turned upside down – or possibly the right side up? "It was just one time, but I didn't pick a stranger from a bar or anything. I was feeling really low about two months after my husband left me. There was a party in my office and ... well, it was a pity boink."

"Hey," House was all attention. "If that is how you show pity, might I point out that I'm a cripple?"

"House!" Cuddy gasped. "If you don't shut up right now I am so calling your mother."

"Oh, come on Cuddy," House whined. "At least I'm a doctor not some nerdy accountant."

Mrs. Flint laughed: "Thank you Dr. House, but in the pity thing I was the nerdy accountant."

"Really," House gave her an obvious once over. "Do you have any mirrors in your home? Because if you have, the other alternative is that you are way too gullible to be an accountant if the guy in question managed to convince you that he was doing it only out of pity."

"He didn't really say that was why he was doing it," Mrs. Flint said. "But he is five years younger than I am, he can have any woman he wants – though I have to say he does not take near as much advantage of that fact as one might think – and he is even rather wealthy. Why would he have anything to do with me, except out of pity? I'm older, I'm already somebody's left-overs and once my divorce is final, I won't be that well off either."

"I was under the impression that Mr. Flint was rather well-to-do?" Cuddy wondered. "I'm sorry, I'm being nosy."

"I don't mind," Mrs. Flint smiled. "This has already turned out to be the best day of my life because of you two. Ask anything, I won't get mad. But about the divorce, yes my husband is rich, but I'm not asking for half of everything as the divorce is my fault."

"But it isn't," House piped up from his corner. "You are not the one who is infertile. In fact quite the opposite as you managed to get pregnant immediately. I know it must be a shock to hear that you cannot have children, but didn't you ask any questions from the doctor? Like how accurate the results are likely to be or if there was anything that could be done in the way of fertility treatments or such?"

"No, I don't think my husband asked any of those questions," Mrs. Flint responded. "He must have been in shock. And after he left me I didn't feel like going back to ask anything more. There wasn't much point – or so I thought."

"What do you mean your husband didn't ask any questions," Cuddy wondered.

"He was the one who called the doctor to get the results," Mrs. Flint explained. "I didn't actually talk to the doctor myself."

"Hmm." House mused in his corner – this time Cuddy didn't bother to glare at him as it seemed to be waste of time anyway. "What does your husband's secretary look like? The one he has had for about a year and has now been dating for those four months that you have been unknowingly pregnant? Buxom blond with wide eyes that look bright but don't really have anybody home behind them?"

"How?" Mrs. Flint stared at House. "How did you know? Do you know my husband?"

"I know the type," House grimaced. "He lied to you. He has been having an affair with his secretary for a year, possibly longer and he lied to you to get an easy divorce."

"He wouldn't do that!" Mrs. Flint insisted.

"Sure he would," House shrugged. "He is a man. Just get in touch with that doctor and find what the real test results were and then get in touch with your lawyer. And if your lawyer isn't one who can go for the jugular get one that can."

"House, shut up already," Cuddy told him – knowing that she was wasting her breath. "Dr. House has a rather pessimistic view of humanity. Though I, too, think you should go back to that doctor and ask to see the test results for yourself."

"I think I will," Mrs. Flint said thoughtfully. "Thank you." She stood up to go.

"You're welcome," Cuddy smiled. "Here is a prescription for pre-natal vitamins, and give this to the nurse and she will give you the time for your next appointment." Cuddy escorted Mrs. Flint to the door.

"Can I now have my brain biopsy?" House got right to the point once he was alone with Cuddy.

"If only!" Cuddy sighed. "I would love to give you a brain biopsy but I suppose I will have to make do with giving you permission to do one on your patient. You said tumour?"

"Yep," House nodded. "It's operable unless it has metastasised."

"Ok, do your thing then," Cuddy agreed.

"Well that wasn't so hard," House grumbled and stood up to leave.

"House," Cuddy stopped him before he got to the door. "I just wanted to know if you are ok? With your mother's divorce and all."

House turned to look at her. "Ah, I see. Wilson has been talking to you. Well, if you were thinking of feeling sorry for me; don't. Unless, of course, your pity takes the form of sexual favours in which case," House turned an exaggeratedly pleading gaze at Cuddy. "Please have pity, **please**!"

"No, House, my pity has never taken the form of sexual favours and I'm not starting now," Cuddy couldn't help it she had to smile a little before turning serious again. "I just ... If you want to talk or something ... I know you are not big on therapists, but if you need a friend, I'm here."

"Thanks Cuddy," House knew she meant well. "But I really much rather not talk about it. It happened nearly forty years ago, I have lived with it all this time; I'm fine. I know you and Wilson probably spent couple of hours trying to analyse me in the light of this new information but contrary to what Wilson believes, the Nile really is a river in Egypt. Trust me I have seen it." And House limped out of the exam room.

--------------------------

Having given his team the go-ahead with the brain biopsy – for once he had decided to get Cuddy's ok first – House limped into his office. He found his parents there. Kasumii and Aiko were in the other room getting Aiko's bottle – and probably trying to stay out of the way of the Houses. The atmosphere in his office was rather cool when House looked at his parents.

"What is going on?" House asked trying for a mild tone. "Not that I mind finding you in my office, that is ok, but somehow I think I interrupted something."

"Your father expects me to move back home," Blythe announced. It was obvious that she was struggling to maintain a neutral tone.

"Wasn't that yesterday's news?" House asked with almost concealed sarcasm.

"I'm not going to travel back and forth once a month just to talk to some stupid therapist," John exclaimed. "When I agreed to seeing one, I was under the impression that your Mother would come home and we would see one in our area."

"And the only reason why I agreed to the schedule he wanted was because I accepted that he didn't want to travel here every week, though that would have been much better from the counselling point of view," Blythe snapped. "As long as I don't know if I want to stay married to him, I'm not going home."

"But that is just ridiculous!" John exclaimed. "We are married, why would we live in different states?"

"Right now we are separated, and there is a good chance that we will be divorced soon," Blythe huffed at him.

"Are you sure you want your first counselling session to be about where you go for the said counselling?" House inserted.

"No, I don't want that to be the case, but I am already going to therapy alone, there is no point in my going to marriage counselling alone, too!" Blythe pointed out.

"I was merely suggesting that there are therapists in both places," House tried to reason – not that he really felt like reasoning with his father, but for his mother he was willing to try. "Why must it be here?"

"See, your son agrees that you need to come home," John nearly crowed.

"I'm only suggesting that Mother could just as well travel to you as the other way around," House rained on his dad's parade. "She still has a lot of her things in your house, so she needs to get them anyway. Also you could use some of the time to pack your things ready for shipping, Mother."

"You could be right," Blythe calmed down. "And it would be only once a month. I think it could work. So, fine, John, you get your wish. You don't have to travel here, we will find a therapist closer to home and then I will travel to the meetings once a month."

"But when will you move back home?" John was bewildered.

"I don't know," Blythe told him. "Certainly not now and it may even be that I never come home. But that is why we need help." With that Blythe left to go to the other room and her granddaughter.

House walked his father out of the office and to the lifts. John remained silent till they reached the lifts but then he turned to House with almost a bitter look on his face. Bitter and still bewildered.

"What have I done to make you hate me? To make your mother behave like this?"

"You are asking the wrong person," House said pressing the call button for the lift.

"Wrong person?" John demanded. "If you are the wrong person then who the Hell is the right one?"

"You," House responded. "You already know my answer; you know what Mother's answer would be, too. You see, denial is not a river in Egypt and it does not serve you well anymore. Now you need to ask yourself what it was that made me hate you. What it was that made your wife leave you when she found out about it even though it was forty years after the fact. You need to ask yourself, and you really need to answer your question, too. If you want your wife back, that is."

"And what about my son?" John asked woodenly.

"Your son is pretty much gone for good, concentrate on your wife," House replied as the lift arrived. Without saying anything more House turned and limped back into his office.

---------------------

_That's if for John, I think, at least for quite some time. Probably for the rest of the story, though he will naturally be mentioned once in a while. _


	41. Commitments

_Thanks for the reviews again! And I appreciate the comments on my spelling and grammar; it's nice to know that proof-reading before posting and using the spell-check on Word does not go to waste. Of course, there are a few errors here and there even then, but I try to keep them to the minimum. _

------------------------

A few days after his father had left town House was sitting in his office reading a medical journal – oddly enough, these days he did most of his work in his office; probably because at home Aiko took up all his time. Kasumii was in House's office, too, with Aiko who seemed to be in a very social mood, unlike Kasumii as House noted after observing her for a few moments.

"What is it, Infant?" House asked out of the blue.

"Are you talking to me or Aiko, Ojii-san?" Kasumii queried a little tartly. She didn't really mind House calling her Infant, but part of their game was that she protested – pretty much the same way as Chase protested to being called Wombat, at least once in a while.

"You know perfectly well I'm talking to you," House replied mildly. "Aiko is her normal cheery self; you however are almost morose today. Normally you chatter away almost non-stop about everything that is happening in your life starting with what you had for breakfast and if you have nothing to say to her, you tell her stories or recite nursery rhymes. Today you have barely spoken a word to her, which means that either you have too much on your mind to find the words for it, or what you want to say is _girl talk_ and you cannot say it when I'm here. So which is it?"

"Nothing," Kasumii insisted though she would not look at House.

"Girl talk. Figures." House rubbed his forehead. "That means it's about Grey. Did he do something or say something that you didn't like or want?"

"No!" Kasumii told him. "Nothing of the sort. He has been a perfect gentleman. I said it was nothing."

"Right, that sounds really convincing," House observed. "Look, I already told you once that I cannot advice you. I don't know anything about relationships, at least not any of the normal kind. And I absolutely will not engage in any kind of _girl talk_, but I do have a mother."

"Oh, I couldn't go to her!" Kasumii sighed. "She has enough problems without me bending her ear with my stupid doubts and ... well, things."

"Vow! He is a fast worker," House observed merrily. "If he has got you wondering about _things_ already. And you barely know him."

"Shut up, Ojii-san," Kasumii snapped with very little respect. "I told you he hasn't done anything. He hasn't even suggested anything. I'm just thinking ahead."

"Well, it is better to be safe than sorry," House responded more seriously. "But you really could talk it over with my mother – even if it is about sex. Just because she has only one child does not mean she did it only once! And as for burdening her with your worries when she has plenty of her own, well here's a wild thought: she just might like to have something else to think about than her own worries, just for a change; even if the something else **is** somebody else's worries."

"You really think she wouldn't mind?" Kasumii bit her lip a little uncertainly. "Me talking to her?"

"I cannot imagine why she would!" House reassured her. "She likes you; even if you weren't Aiko's Nanny and therefore important to her she would still be happy to help you. Just give Aiko to me and go to her. She is about to finish working for today and you can go have a coffee or whatever it is you girls do when you talk."

"But aren't you due to the clinic in ten minutes or so?" Kasumii asked – knowing full well what House's response was going to be.

"Oh, I cannot go," House explained earnestly. "My Nanny is having a crisis and I have to stay with my daughter!"

"And what kind of a crisis is Miss Tanaka having then, that requires you to skip clinic duty?" Wilson asked as he walked into House's office. "A broken fingernail?"

"Oh, come on Jimmy," House admonished him. "Does she really look like someone who would see that as a crisis?"

"No, not at all," Wilson said unconcernedly as he walked in. "But it is something you would classify as a crisis in order to get out of clinic duty."

"But a broken fingernail could easily hurt Aiko!" House pointed out.

"Which is why I keep my nails short," Kasumii explained as she gave Aiko to House. "And I am also quite sure that Dr. Cuddy will be happy to watch over Aiko while I'm away – dealing with my crisis – so there really is no need for you to forgo the clinic."

"Kasumii, you work for me, not Cuddy," House reminded her. "I can deal with my clinic hours without you getting her involved in it, so no need for you to go and inform Cuddy of this change of plans."

"But don't I need to stay on her good side," Kasumii asked with wide-eyed innocence. "I mean if something happens to you, she will be my boss then."

"You worry about that when and if it happens," House growled. "Now scoot, before I change my mind and won't let you deal with your _crisis_ right now." Kasumii left, as instructed.

"You know, Cuddy will come looking for you anyway," Wilson pointed out as he sat down. "If you don't show up for your clinic hours she is going to come here. And as you are with Aiko, you cannot even hide."

"Sure I can," House insisted. "I just duck under the table while you take Aiko and tell Cuddy that you don't know where I am."

"Yeah, that is going to work really well," Wilson huffed. "She will know immediately that I'm lying."

"Why is that?" House asked. "I was under the impression that you could lie to women without blinking an eye!"

"Cuddy is not a woman!" Wilson exclaimed.

"Thank you so much for those words!" Cuddy's indignant voice came from the door way causing Wilson to groan and bury his head in his hands.

"I didn't mean it that way, really," Wilson groaned.

"Well, what way did you mean it?" House asked gleefully.

"Lisa, really," Wilson tried to explain. "I know you are a woman, but to me you are first my boss and then my friend."

"Well, I'll let that go for now since it really is House that I want," Cuddy decided.

"Ah, finally!" House perked up. "So toddle off Wilson and leave me alone with Cuddy. The floor or the couch, Cuddy? Just remember to be gentle with me."

"The clinic!" Cuddy told him without smiling.

"Ok, that works for me," House nodded. "Are we doing the Naughty Nurse or the Doctor and the Cripple?"

"Neither," Cuddy sighed in exasperation. "I'm staying here with Aiko and you are going to the clinic to do your duty as a doctor."

"Aww, shucks," House pouted.

"Just deal with it," Cuddy said taking Aiko away from House.

"Fine, I'll do clinic duty then," House grumbled. "And since you want me to play doctor I'll start with you! You do know that just because you are pregnant you don't need to eat for two?"

"What do you mean?" Cuddy asked suspiciously. "My weight is within the limits and my diet is exactly what my OB recommended."

"You are eight weeks pregnant and I think your ass is bigger than it should be yet," House observed. "Not that I'm objecting, mind you. It's still firm and luscious, but even so it is bigger than I expected yet."

"Well, you don't need to worry about my ass," Cuddy told him. "I have it under control. Now get to the clinic."

"I'm going, I'm going," House said as he limped out. "No need to get so tight assed about it."

--------------------------------

Blythe was happy to see Kasumii as she finished her work for the day. They went to a cafeteria near the hospital and sat in a booth tucked away in a corner.

"So what is on your mind?" Blythe asked Kasumii as they sat down.

"Confusion," Kasumii sighed.

"In other words: men," Blythe smiled. "Or just one?"

"Yes," Kasumii nodded. "Just one. I just don't know if he is _the _one. I hope not."

"Why?" Blythe asked. "Isn't that what everyone wants? Finding the one true love?"

"Maybe," Kasumii agreed. "But I never planned my life to include one. Or at least I didn't expect to run into one so early on."

"I know what you mean," Blythe mused. "I didn't expect to run into him either, when I was nineteen. But I did."

"But you are divorcing him now?" Kasumii wondered.

"I'm not sure about the divorce yet," Blythe said. "But whatever happens in the end, John was still the one. Life just is such that even when you find the one, he isn't necessarily what you thought he would be. He can be, but not necessarily."

"So you stop loving him?" Kasumii wanted to know.

"No, of course not," Blythe told her gently. "You cannot choose who you love or don't love. The only thing you can choose is what you do about it. I cannot stop loving John now. I have loved him for fifty years – even if the _how much_ has varied from time to time. Loving him is pretty much like breathing now. I cannot stop. But that does not mean I can accept everything he is or has done. Some things are more important than love."

"_I could not love thee (Deare) so much / Lov'd I not Honour more_" Kasumii quoted. "Yes, I know what you mean. But the problem with me is that I don't know how much I can love. I think I'm falling in love with David, but if I am, I cannot surrender to it. I have duties, obligations, promises I cannot just set aside for happiness. But even if I'm willing to sacrifice my own happiness, do I have the right to sacrifice his? Should I stop now, when I still can, when he still can? Or do I have the right to try and snatch what happiness I can and deal with the consequences as they come?"

"Does he know that other things are more important to you than love?" Blythe wanted to know.

"I haven't spelled it out to him letter for letter," Kasumii said. "But short of that I have been pretty clear about my commitment to Aiko."

"You do know that Greg can hire another Nanny if you decide to leave?" Blythe suggested cautiously.

"I didn't make a commitment to Dr. House when I took this job," Kasumii explained. "Though I do owe him quite a lot. But the real commitment I made was to Aiko. I cannot let her down. Even if Dr. House were able to find another Norland trained Nanny with Japanese background, I cannot leave Aiko. Not before its time. I love her."

"So now you are torn between two loves – or possible loves," Blythe summed. "Have you talked about your feelings with David?"

"Oh, I cannot!" Kasumii exclaimed. "It would be so presumptuous of me to go and tell him not to fall in love with me. I don't even know if he is planning anything of the sort! What if it's just a flirtation to him?"

"Maybe it is," Blythe acknowledged. "But sometimes plans change. I'm not saying you need to have it out with him right now, just keep your eyes open, and if you really start to have concerns then you can bring it up. Though, I do think he is old enough to look after himself, as long as you are honest with him."

"That is what Dr. House says, too," Kasumii smiled. "That David is old enough to look after himself. So you think I can go on seeing him for now?"

"I can't really tell you what to do," Blythe said. "But as long as you are aware of the possible consequences, I cannot see why not. Just be careful."

"I suppose that is the best I can do," Kasumii agreed. "Unless I really just tell him no and stop having any kind of social life. Only, even that won't help, as I will see him at work."

"I think you really just have to trust him to know what he is doing," Blythe concluded.

"And be honest with him?" Kasumii noted.

"Yes," Blythe nodded. "Honesty is important no matter what the relationship is."

"Thank you," Kasumii smiled at Blythe. "I'm not sure I feel any less confused, but at least I feel better about it."

"Good to know that I was able to help," Blythe responded. "Even if only a little. And don't hesitate to come to me again if you need."

They finished their coffees and got back to the hospital; Kasumii to look after Aiko and Blythe to just wait till her son was ready to leave work and give her a lift home; most of that time Blythe did spend with her granddaughter.


	42. Tea, anybody?

"Cuddy?" House poked his head into her office. Cuddy glared at him, and he took that as an invitation and hobbled in. "Do you have any plans for Sunday?"

"Other than having a day of rest and trying to stay as far away from you as possible? No," Cuddy responded. It had been a week but she still hadn't forgiven House's remark about her ass – it was a bit sensitive subject to her these days – especially as she was sure that House went out of his way to measure it with his eyes every chance he got. House, of course, claimed that he was just admiring the new, improved model.

"Come on, Cuddy," House sighed knowing exactly why he was still getting frostbites from her. "Lighten up! Sometimes bigger is better, you know."

"Easy for you to say," Cuddy groused. "You are not the one whose body isn't her own anymore. You are not going through strange changes and not being able to wear your old clothes and feeling like a balloon."

"Lisa," House came over to her to lean on her desk. "Did you really think you were going to be the first woman in history to have a baby and not show?"

"No, of course not," Cuddy bit her lip. "I just... I didn't really give that much of a thought."

"I see," House smiled. "You decided on have the baby, you planned for the practical things about getting and being pregnant, like what things you needed to get ready for the baby and how much maternity leave you could take and you thought about the end result; the having that baby and being a single, working mother. But you never stopped to think about just being pregnant?"

"No, not really," Cuddy admitted in a small voice.

"Lisa, though you do show sooner than I expected, there is nothing wrong with your body," House told her. "In fact you glow, even when you are being a total sourpuss like now. Haven't you seen the looks you are getting from men these days?"

"Sure I have," Cuddy shrugged. "I'm expecting all the time for someone to shout _wide-load coming through!_"

House leaned closer to look into Cuddy's face, but she was hiding it so he put a finger under he chin and lifted. "You really mean it, don't you," he wondered. "You really are that blind. Funny, I would have thought that with your bod and funbags you would have learned to recognise lust when you see it. So let me tell you, the pole-axed looks you get when you storm the hallowed halls of this hospital are not because they cannot believe how big you have gotten but because you rise more than just fear in half the male population on your staff. The other half is gay, so they don't count."

"You are just saying that," Cuddy muttered.

"Cuddy, you look fierce, and capable and authoritative, you have a killer body and you're not ashamed to show it," House itemised. "You have always been on the top of the list of the fantasies men in this hospital have. Now you also look softer, more _possible_, in a manner of speaking and you are creating havoc. There is a reason why the head of maintenance insisted that you stay away from any repairs his men are doing."

"He said that he worried about my safety," Cuddy frowned.

"He has two men on sick leave because of you," House informed her. "It's not just your safety he is worried about."

"But the two men on sick leave had normal accidents!" Cuddy insisted. "One broke his finger with a hammer and the other came down a ladder a little awkwardly and broke his arm."

"Yep, and both accidents happened because the guys were ogling you instead of concentrating on what they were supposed to do," House explained. "Henry has been heard to mutter to himself that the next man he hires has to be gay or a woman."

"Oh," Cuddy didn't know what else to say. She found this new information a little hard to adjust to her previous ideas.

"Oh, indeed," House laughed at her a little. "So now that we have got that out of the way, what about Sunday?"

"Ahm ..." Cuddy took a moment to adjust to the change of subject. "No, I have no definite plans for Sunday, why?"

"Then you are having tea with me and mother," House informed her. "Wilson is coming, too. Kasumii will play the hostess. Wear slacks." With that House left the office as abruptly as he had entered.

--------------------------------

"Do you know anything more about this," Cuddy asked Wilson as they got to House's flat at the appointed time on Sunday. "I mean, I know he doesn't drink anymore, but tea parties! That does not sound like House."

"I assume it was his mother's idea," Wilson shrugged as he knocked on the door. "Though I would have expected her to do the inviting a little more formally than what House did. He was more commanding than inviting."

"Good, you are both here," House said as he opened the door. "Here, take these and then we can leave." He nearly threw two boxes to Cuddy and Wilson – one each – and then he turned towards his mother who was holding Aiko. "Ready?"

"Yes, dear, we are ready," Blythe confirmed. "But from the looks of your friends, I'm not so sure they are. You did explain the arrangements to them didn't you? When you invited them."

"What's to explain," House shrugged. "Sunday tea! What could be more self-explanatory? I booked us a tearoom close by, we can walk there." House took the lead and started to limp down the street. Wilson and Cuddy exchanged a look and followed him with Blythe and Aiko.

They reached their destination in five minutes or so. House opened a gate to a garden behind a small Japanese restaurant. They followed a typical winding path to a small building at the back of the garden – it actually looked like it had originally been a summer house or something similar, not oriental at all, but it still fit the garden. When they walked in they found two small rooms. First was a waiting room and the second, they presumed, was the tea room, but the door was closed between the rooms.

"Right, all you need is in the boxes," House said once they had all entered the waiting room. There were already two boxes in there presumably for House and Blythe. "You don't need to take the fan, if you don't want to, but it is traditional. However, as one of the most important aspects of this is the comfort of the quests, it is your decision. However, the packet of papers you find in the box you need to have as that's your plate."

"We are having a tea ceremony?" Cuddy exclaimed. Somehow the idea of House willing to spend couple of hours to have one cup of tea didn't really seem credible. She had had hard enough time to try and wrap her mind over the idea of tea and cakes in House's flat; but a real, formal tea ceremony just drew a blank in her mind's eye. Apparently Wilson had a similar problem as he didn't seem to be able to even blink.

"I'm introducing Aiko to the Way of Tea, yes," House confirmed pulling a black kimono out of his box. Once he had that on Blythe helped him to wrap Aiko to his chest and then she turned to her own box.

"Aiko is three months old," Wilson stuttered. "There is no way she can understand any of this."

"That's what you think," House shrugged. "She is smarter than you think."

"Does it matter?" Blythe asked. "Even if she doesn't understand now, she will in time. This is just the first time we do this, not the last."

"I suppose," Cuddy agreed. "If you intend to make a tradition of this, then what does it really matter when it starts; besides, I'm guessing this is not just for Aiko."

"Right, as I'm sure you know, there are quite a few rules to follow, but follow my lead or ask Kasumii if you're not quite sure how to proceed," House told them as they took out their kimonos. Wilson's was black like House's and Blythe and Cuddy had blue ones. "And in any case, this is just family. The main rules are no gossip, no small talk, and I'm sure you are relieved to hear, absolutely no snide comments or snarking. We are striving for Harmony, Respect, Purity and Tranquillity here. And purity starts with washing our hands and mouths." House nodded towards a water basin near them.

-------------------------------

Later that night, in her bed Cuddy went over the ceremony again, or the _Way of Tea_ as House called it. She thought they had muddled through it pretty well, for first timers. But what stuck in her mind was a totally unexpected side to himself that House had revealed. Yes, this had all been for Aiko, and without Aiko none of them would have even got a chance to see this part of House. In fact, had she not seen it with her own eyes she wouldn't have believed it even now. Two hours! House had been calm and polite and respectful and still for two hours. And all for three sips of tea. The man who used to live on sandwiches because they meant he didn't have to bother with cutlery!

But the thing that stayed with her from the day was House explaining things to Aiko. That was the one thing she was sure they all would remember. In a way Blythe had been right. It didn't matter that Aiko was too young to understand any of it – though she had seemed to understand a lot – or even remember any of it; all who had been there would remember the important things and Cuddy felt that it wasn't just the tradition of having tea that had been started today, it was also the tradition of story-telling. She was sure the story of their first tea together would be a favourite story for all of them to tell to Aiko in the years to come – and possibly a favourite for her to hear. It was the beginning of a family tradition; the beginning of a family – even if she wasn't quite sure what the family would be like: family of friends? Honorary aunts and uncles? Or something closer.

They had waited at the door as House went in with Aiko first – the tradition was that quests entered one at a time. They observed how he entered the tea room (as formally as he could with his bum leg, it didn't really bend well to the traditional kneeling position), and went to the alcove to view the scroll there. He talked to Aiko quietly, but as everything was quiet apart from his voice and the sound of the boiling water (and the iron pieces in the kettle) they heard him easily.

"See, the scroll is there to tell us what is the theme of today's gathering," House explained to Aiko who seemed to be listening with rapt attention. "The writing is really the main thing in a scroll but sometimes, it is also decorated with a picture. This time it is a picture of a family, because that is what this gathering is about. Your family Aiko. Not just the people who are here today, but all those who are not here. This is about your past, your background and your future. That is why the writing says: _Respect the past; Create the new_. Your roots are in Japan and it is possible your future will be there, too, but now you are here. With your new family and that is what we are creating here. A new family for you; a future for you. But I want to build it on your past, on your heritage, on your ancestors. I know we pretty much have to wing it. You have no experience of anything, and I have no experience of being a father, but if we respect the past, learn from it, then I'm sure we can create the new, too. What do you think Little Love?"

Aiko had made a little cooing sound and leaned her head against her father like she really had understood everything he had said and wanted to show that she trusted him. Cuddy knew Aiko was way too young to really understand, and that any such reading of her actions was gross over interpretation, but no amount of rationalization or lectures on child development could shake the feeling that Aiko understood her father perfectly. Well, maybe she did, just not on the normal level.

Kasumii had been a graceful hostess and had known when someone needed help before it became obvious and had seen them all through the ceremony with a few whispered words or a subtle gestured instruction. Of course as House was the first quest and knew what to do it was fairly easy to just follow his lead. Also he did explain things to Aiko and that also served as instruction for the rest of them.

He had told Aiko about the reason for the simplicity of the room, the attention to details – which suddenly explained to Cuddy why he was so at home there: the importance of details, the training in noticing the slightest variation or even error or flaw in anything and everything and yet understanding how it all went into the whole; how it all worked together to make this gathering, this occasion, the unique moment of life that it was. It had not felt like two hours at all! Cuddy remembered having been surprised to realise her legs had gone slightly numb from the kneeling position she had stayed in for the duration. House, of course, had been unable to stay in the traditional position, but his kimono had masked his more unconventional seat. He had still managed pretty well, though reaching for the things set before him would have been a little easier from a kneeling position, especially as he had Aiko with him, but he managed.

The ceremony had been the short version – Cuddy wasn't sure she ever wanted to try the long version – so they had not been offered any food, just sweets and the tea. House had shown how to take two sweets from the tray and he had also let Aiko taste them, because in life there were sweet things, too, as he told her. The tea didn't look like anything Cuddy had ever seen; it was green and frothy, and the way Kasumii prepared it was curious. They had all shared the bowl and Kasumii had prepared the tea for each of them separately. Cuddy was glad that she had had some warning before she partook of the tea because she feared she might have had a very impolite reaction to it otherwise, at least at first.

House had allowed Aiko to suck on one of the sweets a little, just enough to get the sweet taste. Then he had offered her a small drop of tea, too. "I'm sorry Little Love, but this will taste bitter to you at first. But such is life, sweet and bitter. And it is the bitterness that hides all the richness of life behind it."

And House had been right. The first sip of the green brew had hit Cuddy rather badly – sometimes it was dangerous to try new things when you were pregnant – but once she had worked through that first taste, she found the richness of flavours behind it. She was sure, though, that this tea was an acquired taste, but she also knew that she was quite happy to acquire it. In fact, the tea reminded him of House; the bitter first impression hid the richness of life behind it.

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_I don't know much about the Way of Tea, but I wanted to have something that could become a tradition for Aiko's family and this seemed like the best option. If what little I said here is wrong, my apologies and my error. _


	43. How could you Gregory!

House was having a physical therapy session at the hospital pool a few days after the _tea party_. As he pulled himself up from the water Grey met him at the side giving him a towel.

"That was good," he observed. "I think you move better now than when we first tried this. Limber, if you know what I mean. Your shoulders and back seem to be much better than before."

"Part of that could be because of the wheelchair, too," House pointed out. "As I move quite a lot with Aiko, I don't put that much strain on my cane-arm and shoulder as I used to. But I agree the exercises have helped with the muscles."

"How much Vicodin are you taking now?" Grey asked.

"One every six hours," House said.

"That is good, isn't it?" Grey raised his eyebrows at House.

"Extremely good," House nodded. "For me."

"I bet your liver is doing victory laps, too," Grey smiled as he patted his therapy table indicating that he wanted House up on it. "Now let me have a closer look at that leg."

House sat on the table as Grey checked his leg and massaged the muscles. After some ten minutes of silence – apart from a couple of instructions – House decided to just barge in. After all, it wasn't like he was known for tact anyway.

"So is it contagious or something?" House asked. "This morose mood you are suffering from."

"Sorry, just a lot on my mind," Grey shrugged. "I don't think it's contagious."

"Are you sure? Because it's not that long ago that Kasumii was suffering from it," House observed. "Of course, as she is a girl I sent her to my mother, but I don't think my mother would be of any help to you."

"She might be," Grey muttered. "I sure need someone to help me understand things."

House studied Grey for a moment pondering something. Then he ventured a guess: "You are aware that you are trying to go where no man has gone before, aren't you?"

Grey stopped, looked at House a little puzzled and then the penny dropped: "Shit!"

"I hope that was a reaction to realising your own stupidity?" House suggested.

"Absolutely," Grey sighed. "I can't believe I didn't think of that. I mean, sure she is twenty-one, but there were still enough signs..."

"Like the tattoo on her forehead?" House mused.

"It's not quite that obvious!" Grey huffed. "Sure I didn't think that she has a lot of experience, but the way she looks...! And she is twenty-one; it just never occurred to me that she would have no experience at all."

"Is that a problem?" House asked. "I know it is for some guys."

"No, no problem at all," Grey shrugged. "I mean, her body, her decision. I just wish I had realised this before."

"Before what?" There was a very slight edge to House's voice.

"Nothing really," Grey sighed. "Fortunately I haven't done anything that I would need to regret. It's just that I was getting a little desperate. I felt like we were going nowhere. Nothing was happening in our relationship. I felt like she was slowly pushing me into the _friends forever_ –corner. Almost like the tame gay-friend, you know."

"And you don't want forever?" House questioned.

"Not _friends _forever," Grey stressed. "I'm so not gay!"

"Have to agree with your there," House had to admit. "Right now you are not even delightful. And I resent that in my therapist."

"Live with it," Grey advised finishing his work on House's leg. "You're good to go till next time."

"And you?" House invited.

"I think I have been second guessing myself a little too much and too long," Grey confessed. "We are going out tonight, just drinks after work, but I think it's time we talked. I need to put my cards on the table and just see what happens."

"Ok," House nodded. "Let me know if I need a new therapist after tonight."

"You don't think you might need a new Nanny after tonight?" Grey suggested facetiously.

"No." House stated categorically as he got up and left to get dressed.

---------------------------------

House was on his way back to his office when Cuddy got into the lift with him. They were the only occupants. House decided that since he had already interfered on one thing this morning, he might as well keep on going.

"You know Cuddy," House mused. "Your ass really is bigger than it should be at ten weeks."

"House!" Cuddy turned to look at him. "Do you really want to do this again? I have only just forgiven you for your last _ass_-inine remarks."

"But I really have a point to make," House insisted. "I mean those fertility meds you took; they can have... well I suppose you could say side-effects. Sort of. I think you should have an early ultra."

"What do you mean," Cuddy put a protective hand on her tummy.

"I think you have parasites," House pronounced.

"You already told me nine weeks ago that I'm pregnant!" Cuddy yelled. "Re-announcing it in a cryptic ..." suddenly she gasped. "Parasite**ss** you said. In plural. As in more than one?"

"Judging by your size, no. I don't think so," House prevaricated. "I'm more inclined to think it's a case of less than four."

"You cannot know!" Cuddy yelled at him. "You cannot just look at me and know that I'm having triplets! God, I hate you." The lift stopped and Cuddy stormed out though it wasn't even her floor. It was House's. House strolled out of the lift nonchalantly and went into his office listening to the angry heels of Cuddy who was storming towards the stairs and her OB-gyn.

--------------------

Cuddy stormed into her doctor's office. Fortunately she was doing paperwork and there were no other patients around. Dr. Helen Jordan looked up from her work as her door slammed open.

"Lisa!" Helen exclaimed. "What is wrong? You really shouldn't let anything upset you this much."

"House!" Cuddy responded as if that explained everything. As it actually did, but as Dr. Jordan was new in the hospital and hadn't run into House as yet, she was in the dark.

"Dr. House?" Helen asked to confirm.

"Who else," Cuddy sighed as she threw herself on the couch. "Oh, you don't know him yet, do you? Count your blessings. He has just told me that I'm expecting triplets."

"I'm sorry, I don't understand," Helen was puzzled. "If you wanted an ultra, why didn't you come here?"

"I am here to have an ultra so that I can get the results and rub them in his face," Cuddy informed Helen. "If you could print the picture on sandpaper I would appreciate it. No, Dr. Know-it-all took one look at my ass and told me that it's too big. That it couldn't be this big unless I was expecting triplets."

"Oh, I see," Helen said – completely in the dark.

"No you don't," Cuddy sighed. "And I don't blame you. But House is... He is House. He just knows things. And too bloody often he is right. So when he isn't I want to make sure I can rub it in. Big time."

"Ok, I have the time so let's do the ultra," Helen agreed. "Ten weeks, isn't it? I think we better do internal ultra then, especially if you want results that cannot be refuted."

Fifteen minutes later Helen had a print in her hand and she helped Cuddy to sit back up. She gave the picture to Cuddy and said: "I think it's a fortunate thing we cannot print these things on sandpaper."

-----------------------

Cuddy stormed into the conference room where House was doing a differential with his team and Wilson, who had brought the patient in question to House. As House was holding Aiko again – Kasumii was in his office tidying up the nursery corner – he was sitting at the table while Cameron was running the board. Foreman was at the coffee maker waiting for the coffee to finish dripping, Chase was at the table rocking his chair while he tried to get ideas from the symptoms and Wilson was pacing the floor. They all stopped doing what ever it was they were doing and stared at Cuddy as she stomped to House and slammed the picture in front of him.

"You ... You... You..." Words completely failed her. She just stood there fuming.

House looked at the picture and smiled: "Well look at that," Wilson walked to him and did look his eyes going wide as House went on. "There's Lisa junior, and there is Greg junior and there's little Jimmy junior, too."

"I am not naming them after us!" Cuddy yelled at him finally finding something to say.

"What is going on?" Blythe had just walked in and naturally wondered what Lisa was yelling about, though she was not surprised to find her yelling at House. Greg seemed to have a knack for getting people to yell at him. Cuddy turned to look at Blythe.

"Your son knocked me up with triplets!" Cuddy cried in distress.

The effect of her words was immediate. Wilson, who had taken the picture and was preparing to sit down to examine it, missed his chair and found himself on the floor, Chase rocked his chair too far and ended up on the floor as well. Foreman had just poured himself a mug of coffee and he missed with the pan and it ended up on the floor broken and splashing his trousers with hot coffee. Cameron dropped the file she had in her hand and stood at the white board like a deer caught in headlights. With deep satisfaction House surveyed the havoc Cuddy's statement had created and he said: "Way to go Cuddy!"

Blythe was the only one unaffected, besides House. She walked to Cuddy, took her in her arms and said: "Oh, Lisa my dear," then Blythe turned an accusing – if slightly twinkling – eye to House and admonished: "Gregory, how could you!"

"I didn't mean to," House defended himself. "We were high on caffeine and it seemed like a good idea at the time. And the triplets, honest, I didn't mean them. It just slipped!"

"Don't try that," Cuddy accused him from the safety of Blythe's arms. "You did this on purpose!"

"Hey!" House protested. "I'm not the one who shot your ass full of fertility meds."

Cuddy raised an eyebrow at him over that pronouncement.

"Ok, ok," House conceded. "If you want to go literal, yes I was the one who did it. But you were the one who decided on the treatment and you got the meds; I came into the picture only after you found out that you couldn't give the shots to yourself. You cannot put this on me just because I didn't refuse a chance to get close up and personal with your ass!"

"Can't I?" Cuddy demanded. "I think I can put anything I want on you. You are the one who has been demonstrating his omniscience all this time! You cannot start claiming ignorance now!"

"Hey! It's one thing to know when you ovulate, something else entirely to know how many," House tried to defend himself.

"And what exactly makes you think that I'm having fraternal triplets?" Cuddy wondered.

"Oh, come on," House stared at Cuddy. "It's obvious. Just look at the picture." He took the picture from Wilson who had recovered enough to get up and find a seat for himself (as had Chase and the rest of House's team), and used a pen to write in the names he had chosen for the triplets – much to the annoyance of Cuddy. "Look, Lisa junior there is obviously a girl, far too bossy to be anything else. And far too bossy for there to be room for another girl. Greg junior, on the other hand is defending his territory, but not being aggressive about it, more like _stay out of my face and I'll stay out of yours_; clearly a boy. Jimmy junior, however, is cowering in the corner there trying to say _can't we just get along_. No way, are Jimmy and Greg from the same egg. Clearly fraternal triplets."

"I see," Blythe mused. "You are telling us that they are fraternal triplets and that one of them is a girl and two are boys. And then you are trying to make us believe you didn't do this on purpose? Not very convincing, son, not very convincing at all."

"Mother!" House whined. "Really, if I know things after they have happened does not mean I know things before they happen or can influence things in any way. Hey! I'm not god or anything."

"I suppose," Blythe conceded turning to Cuddy. "I think we have to believe him. I don't mean you have to forgive him, but I do think you can't accuse him of having done this on purpose."

"You are laughing at me aren't you," Cuddy asked Blythe.

"Not at you, dear," Blythe denied. "I cannot even imagine what it is like to carry triplets. One was quite hard enough, especially as it was Greg. You are having three of them. But on the other hand, I had given up pretty much all hope of having even one grandchild, then I got Aiko and now... I'm sorry, but I cannot really feel too sorry right now."

"Oh God," Cuddy groaned in despair. "I'm having HIS triplets!"

"Come on Lisa," Blythe patted her back in comfort. "I'll walk you to your office and we will have a nice little chat and you can say anything you want about my son."

Once Blythe and Cuddy had left the room Wilson turned to House and asked: "Did I get it right? You are the father of Cuddy's triplets? You?"

"I suppose it is a bit too late to try and deny it?" House ventured.


	44. By any other name

_Yes! Week-end is here again. Thank you all for you__r lovely reviews and here is the next episode._

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Cuddy sat on the couch in her office with her head in her hands. Blythe sat next to her patting her comfortingly on the back – not that it helped much.

"What was I thinking?" Cuddy berated herself. "I might as well have got a tattoo on my forehead saying _House knocked me up_! Or sent out a memo or just have it announced over the speakers. I'm such an idiot!"

"I did say that you can say whatever you want about my son," Blythe mused. "But is it really such an awful thing that people know he is the father of your child ... or children in this case?"

"No, actually that is not the bad part," Cuddy lifted her head. "I mean he is not bad looking, he is intelligent, has no hereditary illnesses that anyone knows of. He can even be nice when he really wants to – and now that he has Aiko he actually wants to, at least some of the time, so there really is no reason for anyone to think he is a bad choice. But when I was planning on letting people know that he was the biological father of my child ... or children ... oh I really hate him right now ... I was going to do it with some style and I was going to leave it a little vague on how I actually got pregnant. People know that I have tried _In Vitro_ before and I was hoping I could make them assume that this time it had worked. But did I do it with style? No! I'm the Head of this hospital and the Dean of Medicine and what do I do? Not only have I had sex with one of my employees I have to shout it out for all to hear like a fishwife! The Board is going to have my head for sure!"

"Can they?" Blythe asked. "I mean, surely you have the right to have a child? They cannot legally do anything to you because of it."

"Not about that," Cuddy sighed. "I checked both the law and my terms of employment before I started the IVF. But after announcing to one and all that I actually had sex with House, they can say that it's a lawsuit just waiting to happen. They can accuse me of unprofessional behaviour and they can sure make a case – especially after that particular outburst I had in Diagnostics today."

"You know that as his mother I think Greg is perfect," Blythe smiled a little mischievously. "But even I don't have enough imagination to see him as a victim in a sexual harassment suit, especially not when you are the other party. It just doesn't connect with any version of reality that I can think of."

"I suppose," Cuddy had to smile, too, even if only a little. "But there is no way around the unprofessional behaviour thing."

"But why would the Board care what you do in your private life?" Blythe pointed out. "I'm sure you can easily find a lawyer to make a much more convincing case about you and Greg having the right to do whatever you want in your private life as friends. Since he has asked you to be there for him with Aiko, there can be no question about you being friends. Yes, the way you made his fatherhood public wasn't exactly calm and collected, but you had just found out that you are having triplets and surely the shock of that is a mitigating factor."

"I suppose," Cuddy agreed tiredly. "At least I can try and fight it."

"And James is on the board," Blythe reminded Cuddy. "He at least will defend you, and I'm sure there are others who will let your stellar record so far influence them more than one understandable slip in professional conduct."

"I sure hope so," Cuddy remarked. "Anyway, they will have to give me due notice of it if they are going to bring it up in the board meeting, so I will have time to prepare. I just hope I will be able to come up with a good enough explanation."

"I think that the mere mention of my son will be quite enough of an explanation for most of them," Blythe had to admit regretfully. "He can drive anyone insane when he wants to. But I'm sure we will be able to deal with all that when the time comes. Now tell me how do you really feel – apart from hating my son, that is?"

"I honestly don't know," Cuddy sighed. "When I was young I sort of naturally assumed that I would have a family with probably the normal two children, then my career took precedence and when I realised that my time for having any kind of family was nearly over, I resigned myself to the fact that there was ever going to be only one child for me, if any. Well, since I was going to go it alone, just one didn't seem like such a bad thing, but now, all of a sudden, I have to adjust to the fact that I will have not the two kids I had once envisioned but three and I'm still alone! And I really don't know how I'm going to manage."

"You are not alone, Lisa," Blythe told her earnestly. "Greg promised to be there for you, he is not backing out just because there are two more than he originally thought. Mind you, even his help will not be enough as he has Aiko, too, but I'm here, James will surely help, Kasumii is already looking after Aiko she will definitely help with your children as well and you can hire an assistant for her so I'm sure we can figure out all the practical details just fine. As long as you do remember that you really are not alone with your triplets. Two boys and a girl, wasn't it?"

"That is what Greg said, but he cannot and I really mean he cannot know," Cuddy said taking the picture from the table where she had thrown it. "As the foetuses are only ten weeks old there is no way to tell for sure the sex of the babies. Even if this picture showed the relevant areas it would still be just an educated guess at this point. It is very difficult to tell the sex of a baby until the foetus is at least thirteen weeks old, possibly not before sixteenth week and sometimes not even then, because it all depends on the position of the baby when the ultra is taken. There truly is no way to tell from this picture if they are girls or boys."

"So you could have three identical girls for all Greg can really tell?" Blythe wanted to know.

"As far as I or anyone can tell from this picture, yes," Cuddy nodded.

"In fact he really was assigning gender on these babies based on the attitudes he thought he perceived?" Blythe wondered taking the picture from Cuddy.

"Yes, he was just showing off," Cuddy explained.

"He does that a lot," Blythe agreed with a smile. "But if **I** was to decide on the gender of your children I would say that Jimmy looks more like a girl to me. I don't see her as cowering in the corner; more like she is the one who is really just minding her own business. In fact, I think she is the one who will cause the most heartbreak for you. She will be nice and quiet and most people will probably overlook her because the other two will demand all the attention. She is the one you need to watch closely to see if she is hurt or unhappy, because she will not tell you. Of course, she will be _Daddy's girl_, like Aiko, so she will probably be ok, but you will have your work cut out for you if you want to have a good mother-daughter relationship between you two."

Cuddy took the picture back and stared at it. "You know you could be right," she agreed. "If we make a guess based on characteristics we think we see, then I think I'm going to have two girls and a boy."

"That would be my guess," Blythe nodded. "So what name do you want to give to Jimmy then, if she isn't a Jimmy?"

"Oh, I'm not naming any of them Jimmy or any of the names House gave them," Cuddy insisted. "I hate the idea of having my son or daughter called _junior_ all his or her life! I mean it may be cute when they are kids or even teens but after that, I cannot imagine anyone would like it!"

"I'm sure some like it just fine, but the moment Gregory was born I knew he would just hate it," Blythe laughed. "Everybody kept telling me that I ought to name him John Junior, but I absolutely refused. Fortunately John didn't want it either, so we decided on Gregory. But if not Gregory, Lisa and Jimmy junior then what? Or is this too soon?"

"No, I think I want to name them, even if only to make sure that they are not stuck with the names House gave them. Especially as I'm beginning to believe that I will actually carry them to term!" Lisa smiled. "If _Jimmy_ is a girl and if she will be a Daddy's girl, then I think Greer would be a perfect name for her."

"I think that is a good idea, Greer and Gregory both mean watchman or guardian," Blythe approved. "And if it turns out that it's a boy, after all, Greer still works."

"No, I will change it then," Cuddy said. "I know Greer is used for both boys and girls, but for some reason I like it better when boys have boy's names."

"So what do you want to call your son, then?" Blythe asked.

"Trey? He is a triplet, after all," Cuddy repeated the name in mind, tasted it and decided that it was ok. "Yes, I think that would work."

"Sounds right to me," Blythe nodded. "Besides, you can change your mind every week if you want to as the point now is to make sure the names Greg gave don't stick! So what do you want to call _Lisa junior_ then?"

"Well, House said she looks bossy, so how about Leona?" Cuddy looked questioningly at Blythe. "How does that sound?"

"A Lioness? I think it might be a very good name for her," Blythe agreed taking a pen and writing the new names on the picture – crossing over the ones Greg had already written.

-------------------------

Meanwhile in the department of Diagnostics House was facing down his team and Wilson. Even Kasumii had come into the other room from House's office, though she didn't say anything.

"So you really are the father of Cuddy's triplets," Wilson repeated in disbelief. "Triplets!"

"Oh, God," Foreman shook his head. "Three Houses! It's going to be impossible."

"Poor Cuddy," Chase agreed wholeheartedly.

"How have you managed to keep it a secret?" Wilson wanted to know.

"Keep what a secret?" House asked unconcerned. He seemed to be more interested in getting Aiko her bottle from Kasumii than in this conversation about his future kids.

"Your affair!" Chase exclaimed.

"Who said anything about an affair?" House wondered. "We have nothing to hide. WE have not been making wild monkey love all over the hospital – unlike some people I might mention." The last remark earned him a dirty look from otherwise quiet Cameron. Chase didn't look too happy either; in fact he blushed, even though his affair with Cameron was over now.

"So you didn't have an affair but Cuddy just happened to find herself pregnant?" Foreman sounded extremely doubtful. "With your kid? Right."

"Oh come on," House scoffed at them. "You are supposed to be doctors! You really believe that an affair is necessary in order to have a baby."

"What are you trying to tell us then," Wilson was confused. "That you just gave her a donation and she did it herself?"

"I did offer to wield your turkey paster," House couldn't resist messing with Wilson.

"My turkey paster?" Wilson was starting to look nauseous. "What do you mean?"

"Well, when Cuddy made up her mind to try for a baby again, she happened to be in my home, helping with Aiko," House told them light-heartedly. "We realised that it was the right time for her, and had we not done something that night, she would have needed to wait a whole month before the next chance. So since I was willing to _give_ she decided to go for it right there and then."

"And you used the turkey paster I had left behind?" Wilson whispered shuddering – and he wasn't shuddering alone. Chase and Foreman, too, were getting images into their heads they would much rather have done without. Wilson shook his head: "House, please, please tell me you are just messing with me!"

"Idiot," House laughed almost affectionately at him. "Of course I'm messing with your mind. We are doctors for crying out loud. Did you really think we would need or even want to go rummaging through used kitchen utensils to make one – ok, in this case three babies."

"So you are telling me that Cuddy wasn't telling the literal truth when she said you knocked her up?" Wilson asked.

"Well, they were my swimmers and I did the honours, so yes, I _knocked her up._ But I'm telling you that there has been no affair," House stated. "I just helped Cuddy to have a baby. And I did it as a friend. Come one Wilson, you know the Board is already upset over her pregnancy! She knew that they would be, so how much do you think she was willing to risk? They cannot do anything to stop her from having children – in or out of wedlock – but they can still make her life difficult if they want to."

"But surely the Board can have nothing to say about how she got pregnant," Foreman shrugged. "That if anything ought to be her private business."

"But technically she is House's boss," Wilson reminded them. "The board could say she has conducted herself in an unprofessional manner. Especially after her outburst here."

"What happened here was a family matter," House stated. "You all keep reminding me that you, too, are part of Aiko's family. Well if you are her family, then you are family to the triplets as well. Besides, as we **are** talking about triplets, you will most certainly be drafted into helping, so get prepared."

"So if her outburst during our coffee break took place just among us, then the board cannot really have anything to say to it," Chase mused catching House's drift pretty fast. "I mean families don't always behave in a rational, professional way and we weren't in her office or in any place where patients or visitors were likely to hear it. It's hardly her fault if the hospital does not have proper soundproofing in the offices."

"There, you heard him Wilson," House supported Chase's analysis. "You just tell that to your fellow Board-members if any of them get too busy trying to shift Cuddy. They will have a lawsuit in their hands for wrongful firing of harassment or whatever we can think of unless they back off!"

"Yes, I think that defence could work very well," Wilson nodded. "I'll pass it along. But I still think that there is more to this than you are letting on to us."

"If there is," House shrugged. "Then you have to get it from Cuddy. I have said all I have to say about this. Except to Cuddy. I think I might have to go and apologise. I think she wanted to leak the information about my paternity a little differently than she did in the end."


	45. Private matters

_At__ first I meant for triplets to have names starting with a G, in sort of honour of their father, but then I realised that House would start calling them Cuddy's G-string and he would have taken every opportunity to ask Cuddy how her G-string was doing or if her G-string was giving her any trouble or if she needed any help with her G-string. Sure it would have been funny, but I couldn't do it to the kids! And House has quite enough to apologise for as it is!_

---------------------------------------

Blythe and Cuddy had just decided on the names for the triplets when there was a knock on Cuddy's door. Blythe stayed on the couch but Cuddy hastily checked her appearance and then took her seat behind her desk before telling whoever was at the door to enter. House walked in.

"House!" Cuddy stared at him in surprise. "You knocked!"

"Hey, my mother's in here," House shrugged as if that was explanation enough. And maybe it was, after all before Aiko Blythe had been the only one who could make House behave.

"Oh," Cuddy didn't quite know what to say. "So what do you want?"

House walked to the table to try and win some time, he picked up the picture of the triplets: "Hey, why have you given Jimmy a girl's name!"

"Could be because I think Jimmy is a girl," Cuddy announced smugly.

"I told you he is a boy," House pouted. "Why would you doubt me?"

"Because we think she looks more like a girl," Blythe informed him gently.

"Oh," House didn't want to contradict his mother, but he didn't want to concede the point either. He settled for a shrug and a nonchalant: "Well, we'll see in time, won't we."

"We will indeed," Cuddy agreed. "But I'm still waiting to hear why you are here now."

"Argh!" House gave an awkward sigh. "I think I might possibly want to apologise?"

"You?" Cuddy clarified feeling almost as astonished as she had when she saw Aiko for the very first time. "This I really have to hear."

"I'm sorry I provoked you into that outburst back there," House rubbed his forehead feeling a little embarrassed. He sure was not used to apologising. "I should have ... I wish I had just reminded you about the fertility meds and told you to go and have your OB to do an ultra just in case you are having more than one baby. I didn't need to tell you I was sure you are carrying triplets. I mean I like it when you blow up, you look amazing then, but I should have remembered that you need to take it easy and also that the Board might cause you problems at this time. Sorry."

"I shouldn't let you provoke me," Cuddy conceded.

"Yeah, and dogs should stop licking themselves," House remarked. "Not gonna happen. I know your buttons too well."

"Then why don't you stop provoking her?" Blythe asked from the sidelines.

"Because he can't stop licking himself either," Cuddy pronounced dryly.

"Yeeew! Cuddy, that is my Mother you are talking to," House protested with exaggeration.

"Children!" Blythe admonished them smilingly. "You can work on your manners later, but what can we do about the board? Greg, do you think they will cause problems for Lisa?"

"They may try, but nothing we cannot handle," House took a seat next to his mother. "That was the other reason I came here right away. We need to get our story straight."

"I think I spilled the beans pretty thoroughly," Cuddy regretted. "The story is as _straight_ as you can get."

"But people in the throws of passion," House earned a glare from Cuddy. "Even when the passion in question is anger – don't let your dirty mind get in the way here – anyway, people say things they don't mean or that are not quite accurate. It happens."

"He has a point," Blythe agreed. "When you are angry you express your feelings and sometimes the words best fitted to the feelings can be misleading about the actual event."

"They weren't this time," Cuddy reminded them.

"No," House conceded. "But we are the only ones who know that for sure. It's what we say now that decides how much the others will know - for sure. First of all I told them clearly that we have not had nor are having an affair."

"That is definitely true," Cuddy nodded. "I suppose that might help."

"I also made clear to them that we are friends and that I offered my help to you as a friend," House continued. "And I managed to suggest to Wilson that we didn't actually have sex. That it was more a question of – well I suppose you could say_ home insemination_."

"Not the turkey paster story!" Cuddy knew her doctor too well.

"Hey, it's a dramatic, fun story," House pouted.

"No, no, no," once again Cuddy found her head buried in her hands.

"Relax," House decided to behave for a change. "I reminded him that we are doctors and don't need to resort to rummaging the kitchen for something usable to do it."

"I think that would be an acceptable explanation for the board," Blythe mused. "Not exactly what a mother would want to hear, mind you, but the board would have a hard time in insisting that what happened is anything but your private business, or a matter between friends."

"Probably," Cuddy wasn't quite convinced yet. "But there is still my unprofessional conduct in the Diagnostics department."

"Hey, because of Aiko and now these three new parasites we are your family," House reminded her. "Sure it's not a conventional family, but it's the one that we have chosen – or is it that it has chosen us? Never mind, the point is still that you have the right to talk to your family during the day, too. As Chase pointed out, we were on a coffee break, you came to talk to us and sometimes families don't communicate in a calm and rational manner. But it's still private."

"Except that you were not having a coffee break, you were working on a patient and I just barged in," Cuddy still wasn't willing to cut herself any slack.

"Sure we were on a coffee break," House insisted with wide-eyed innocence. "Just ask Foreman! He broke a whole pot of coffee."

"Ohhhh," Cuddy groaned and hid her face again.

"Oh, Lisa, lighten up," Blythe laughed. "It was funny, really. And if Wilson relays this version of events to the board, we have really nothing to worry about."

"I would not go as far as to say nothing to worry about," House grimaced. "Cuddy is still pregnant and that is a problem for one or two of the board members. But this version definitely robs them off any additional ammunition. At least we are not giving them anything they can use."

"So you think no additional harm done?" Cuddy started to sound a little hopeful.

"Once we get the damage control in place we should be in the clear with this," House stated. "Though, you might want to give Stacy a call, just in case. Besides you might want to keep her apprised of the goings on anyway, since I'm sure this is not the last bump on the road for us. The board really was not happy about your pregnancy and now that you are having triplets, you really need to make sure they cannot start any bullshit about you not being able to do your work without neglecting the kids or vice versa."

"You think they would do that?" Cuddy worried.

"You know there are always power games going on the board," House pointed out. "That is one of the reasons why I have always adamantly refused any and every offer of a seat I have ever received. Some will definitely see this as an opportunity. Our job is to see that it won't actually become one."

"Ok, I think we can do that," Cuddy finally decided to relax. She had been handling the board for a number of years now, so surely she knew how by now.

"There is just one thing you may need to change in your plans," House approached the subject cautiously.

"What thing?" Cuddy frowned.

"First of all, you need to get yourself a proper assistant," Cuddy glared at House when he said that since he had _helped_ more than one of her assistants make up their minds about leaving. "I know, I promise to behave! I will even help you interview if you want, so that they know right away what they are dealing with. But in addition to an assistant, you have to rethink your maternity leave."

"Maternity leave? Surely she has a right to one?" Blythe exchanged puzzled glances with Cuddy.

"Sure she has, I'm sure it's even in her contract," House agreed. "That is not what I mean. I think you may need to take the maximum amount you can. I know you were planning on working almost to the end of your pregnancy and then come back with the baby, pretty much the way I'm doing with Aiko, but that is not going to work with triplets."

"Oh, drat," Cuddy sighed. "You are right. I need to rethink a lot of things now that there are three of them."

"Not just you," Blythe reminded her. "I already told you that you are not alone here. But yes, everything needs to be reconsidered. But we will do it together. Right Greg?"

"Yeah," House nodded. "We will figure this out Cuddy. Just don't stress over it, ok?"

"I'll try not to," Cuddy said. "Well, since the drama is over for today, I think I better get back to work."

"We will leave you to it, then" Blythe stood up and went to the door her son opened for her. "Just remember that we really are here for you, Lisa." Blythe left.

"House, a word," Cuddy said before House followed his mother. "Are you really ok with me calling Stacy?"

"Yes," House didn't hesitate. "I have no problem with that. Stacy... well that situation was resolved last time she was here. It's fine. And once you tell Stacy that you are pregnant with my triplets Mark should be fine with it, too, even if Stacy needs to come here to talk with you. After all, there are few things that say _commitment_ more clearly than a set of triplets."

"Even if there is no commitment between us, at least not the kind that usually is meant with that word," Lisa pointed out.

"Mark is a decent man, he cannot imagine how the less decent of us think," House remarked. "Besides, it doesn't matter. His marriage is safe from me." With that House left.

---------------------

At the end of the day Kasumii was helping House to gather up Aiko's things. Aiko was already wrapped to House's chest and they were nearly ready to leave.

"So is that what you are wearing?" House suddenly asked Kasumii.

"I'm sorry?" Kasumii turned to stare at him.

"Grey said that you have agreed to have a drink with him after work," House explained. "Are you really going to wear your uniform for drinks?"

"Why not?" Kasumii asked. "There is no rule that says I cannot have a drink in a decent bar even in my uniform, as long as I conduct myself in a manner suitable for a Norland graduate."

"And you wonder why your relationship with Grey hasn't gone anywhere," House muttered. "No, this will not do." He fished his phone out of his pocket and punched Grey's number on it. "Grey, it's House. ... Sorry to disturb your plans but I need Kasumii to come home with me now ... No I'm not cancelling for her; you just need to pick her up from my place ... Half an hour." And he hung up abruptly. "Come on Infant."

Kasumii stared at House with her mouth open but there really was nothing else she could do but follow the exasperating man home. After all, he had just robbed her of her lift to the bar and then home – unless she waited for David at House's place as the new plan dictated. She was still fuming when they met Blythe at the car but decided not to tell House's mother how impossible her son was.

Once they got Aiko home and Blythe had gone to her flat, Kasumii turned to House and asked: "So how is this situation helping with what I am wearing? It's not like I have anything to change into here either!"

"Sure you have," House smiled mischievously. "There is your biker chick outfit."

"But you told me never to wear it around him!" Kasumii was stunned.

"Not unless you want to give him ideas," House reminded her. "I think Grey can handle an idea or two right about now. Go on, change. It will be ok."

Kasumii frowned but did as House told her. When she came back from the bathroom, House walked round her – pretty much the same way as he had done before the Oncology Benefit.

"That shirt is still from your uniform, isn't it," House asked.

"I told you I don't have any extra clothes with me," Kasumii snapped.

"Fine," House limped into his closet and rummaged in it for a moment. He came back with a blue shirt which – surprisingly – was ironed. "Here, try this."

"That goes around me at least twice!" Kasumii pointed out.

"That is the idea," House nodded. "You can knot it at your waist."

Kasumii took the shirt and stared at it with deep suspicion. Then she turned the same suspicious glare to House: "You are up to something," she stated. "I'm not wearing this, not unless you tell me what it is you are trying to achieve."

"Fine," House seemed to relent. "I may want to mess with Grey's mind a little. We had a little talk earlier today and I think he deserves it."

"So this is pay back for something?" Kasumii didn't seem very reassured. "I like this less and less all the time!"

"Look," House put his hand on her shoulder and looked serious for a change. "I am really not putting you in the middle here. The moment Grey sees you he will know this is all my doing, and he will also know that if he makes you suffer for it in any way at all, he will have a very painful meeting with my cane. This is just a small joke I'm playing here. Really."

"Promise?" Kasumii was still a little suspicious but not much.

"You have my word," House promised.

"Ok, then," Kasumii took the shirt and went back into the bathroom.

Kasumii hadn't quite finished changing when there was a knock on the door and House opened it to find Grey outside.

"She's almost ready," House said letting Grey inside. Hardly had Grey entered when Kasumii came out of the bathroom and Grey turned to stone. He nearly dropped his eyes. Kasumii had looked exquisite in her evening dress but this biker chick really took David's breath away. "Thought you might like a reminder of what it is you are fighting for, just in case you chicken out about your feelings again in front of the Nanny," House said to Grey low enough for Kasumii not to hear.

"No chickens tonight, that's for sure," Grey swallowed. "Miss Tanaka, if you are ready...?"

"Are you sure this is ok?" Kasumii wanted to know indicating her outfit. House's shirt had never looked so good.

"Perfect," was all that Grey was able to come up with.

"Right then kiddies," House said as he ushered them out of the door. "I expect to see Kasumii back here within two hours max!" Grey turned to look at House a little quizzically. "Tomorrow is a working day, remember. If you want more time together, plan the week-end. Bye!" House closed the door almost catching their behinds with it.

Once the two lovebirds were out of the way House limped over to Aiko to take her with him to the piano to play and wait for Blythe who was going to join them later.


	46. Just desserts

_Thank you for the reviews! Here is the next chapter, still fiction, so when you think that the court cases cannot happen at the same time (they can't can they?) just go with it. I don't know enough about law and courts to write credibly about it so I just want them out of the way – but I do want Landis to get what he deserves, so that is why they are mentioned. Besides I have a use for the compensation money in mind ;)_

_--------------------------_

Before going back to Cuddy's Kasumii had come in briefly the night before to get her things and bike keys but she hadn't stayed. House had merely asked her if he needed to polish his cane and she had said no – with a smile, so House had figured Grey had said his piece and it had gone well enough. In the morning, when House woke up, she could hear Kasumii and Blythe in the kitchen with Aiko (who was just starting to participate in conversations with some experimental sounds). He dragged himself out of bed, went into the bathroom had a shower and got dressed. He limped into the kitchen to get Aiko for her medication and the morning massage.

"Morning Mom, Infant," House greeted the ladies. Aiko was sitting firmly on the counter – proudly demonstrating this fairly new skill – with Kasumii at hand making sure no accidents could happen. As soon as she heard House's voice she turned her head to him and started to make eager noises. House gave his cane to Kasumii and leaned against the unit for support when he lifted Aiko into his arms to say proper hello to her. "Hello Little Love. Now have you already been told that you will have a sister and two brothers before the year's end?"

"She has been told that she will have a brother and two sisters," Blythe informed her son. "But she said that she was okay with it."

"Of course it's ok with her," House stated. "But I just hope she won't be disappointed when it's two boys and a girl."

"We will see in time," Blythe was confident. "Now how many pancakes do you want?"

"I slept too late, so I have to take them with me," House said. "So as many as you care to make, I'll have all day to eat them at work. I need to give Aiko her medication and her massage now. I just need some coffee first to help me wake up."

"I suppose I should be happy that it's just coffee you are addicted to, though according to yourself even that can get you into trouble," Blythe smiled at him.

"What trouble?" House was lost.

"You did say that you and Cuddy were high on caffeine when you made the triplets," Blythe reminded him.

"True, true," House remembered. "Well, I'll be more careful with it in future. Four kids is definitely all I can even hope to handle. Come on Infant, help me with Aiko." House handed Aiko to Kasumii to transport and they went into the living room to get Aiko ready for work.

"So anything you think you need to tell me about last night and your drink with Grey?" House asked as they got to the living room and he got ready to give Aiko her medicine.

"I don't know," Kasumii said. "I still need to think about it. I'm not sure what I want and how much I can actually have of it."

"You know that as long as Aiko – and later the trips – are your first priority, I will do all I can to make it possible for you to get what happiness there is," House told her. "If Grey is willing to understand the importance of the children – and I have got the impression from him that he is – then I see no reason why you cannot see where it all can go."

"You would do that? Try and help me find happiness?" Kasumii was curious. "I rather thought you didn't believe in it."

"I may not believe in it, but that does not mean I want to rob you of that belief," House shrugged. "You have to learn your own lessons and who knows; you may get lucky and never learn it."

Kasumii smiled, leaned over and kissed House on the cheek before she left him alone with Aiko and went to the kitchen to help Blythe. House frowned puzzled at her as she left, but concentrated then on Aiko.

------------------------------------------

They got to House's office at their usual time. The ducklings were there already. The case that Wilson had brought to their attention had been solved – it had been just the original cancer throwing a loop at them – and now they had no cases left. Cameron was sorting House's mail again and the boys were reading up on the latest research.

"Are you going to the court today?" Cameron asked House when he arrived with his entourage.

"No," House answered. "No reason to go. Cuddy will be there and she will keep us posted. Besides, it's not even certain the verdict will be in today. It's just closing arguments; who knows how long the jury will take."

"Is it today?" Blythe asked. "I had forgotten about it. The case has taken so long that I really lost tract."

"But I'm still surprised at how fast they took it on," Foreman piped in. "I would have expected at least the Landis' lawyer to do more to play for time. I know the DA wanted to go on with it as soon as possible as this involves children and is all in all a high profile case due to the people involved, but why didn't the defence try to wait till things died down a little?"

"Their lawyer probably consulted with a doctor and found out that Blastomycosis can make people sick – or even kill them – months after the initial exposure," House reminded them. "I'm sure he weighed the present public outrage against the possibility of a dead baby later on and the resulting reaction from that when he decided to get this thing over with as soon as possible. Also in the favour of the defence is the fact that we really don't know yet how wide this epidemic is. There are still people out there who have no idea that they have Blastomycosis. It was in Landis' best interest to get at least the criminal case out of the way as soon as possible. He is probably hoping too, that the compensations determined in the civil case will not be too high now that all the known patients are doing well. And if there are further cases, they may then stay within the same limits too."

"I would still have expected you to want to be there, Greg," Blythe wondered. "Don't you want to see them get what they deserve for what they did to Aiko?"

"I don't do too well in courtrooms," House muttered a little shamefacedly to his mother.

"What do you mean?" Blythe was lost.

"He usually ends up with a contempt citation no matter why he originally went in," Foreman disclosed. "He has a problem with the due process and protocol."

"Yeah," Chase accompanied Foreman. "We were actually quite surprised that nothing happened when he went in to testify in the cases. Cuddy was the only one who thought that he could conduct himself properly, both times, and she made a killing on the bets. The odds on favourite was that House would end up spending a night in jail."

"Well, there was a reason why I insisted on taking Aiko and Mom with me," House confessed wishing that they could change the subject already.

"Taking Aiko was probably a good strategy anyway," Foreman noted. "Letting the jury see who Landis had really hurt should make them want to get rather hard on his ass and he deserves it."

"Prosecution in the criminal case and our lawyers in the civil case certainly thought so," Cuddy said from the doorway as she entered House's office. "Especially after your testimony where you had behaved yourself with unusual decorum, while Aiko had, naturally, been her usual adorable self."

"You are leaving for court now?" Cameron asked standing up – she had already told House the day before that if there was no case she too would attend.

"Yes, just came to get you and ask if House is sure he doesn't want to come," Cuddy responded.

"I'm absolutely sure," House stated. "Go and have fun."

"I hope we will," Cuddy said as she and Cameron left the office.

------------------------------

Kasumii and Blythe had taken Aiko for a stroll outside and House was alone in his office when Grey came to see him. The man was not his usual fairly cheery self; in fact it looked like he might have a bone to pick with House.

"So, how was last night?" House asked leaning against his desk and setting down the balls he had been juggling when Grey walked in.

Grey seemed to be going over something in his mind. He seemed a little unsure of his ground, but obviously agitated about something. Grey paced back and forth a couple of times in silence before he stopped before House and said: "I don't want her to wear your shirts again. In fact I don't want anything of yours that near her again."

"That could be a little difficult, once she moves in with me," House tested the ground.

Grey's hackles rose visibly: "What do you mean moves in with you?"

"She is Aiko's Nanny, you know," House shrugged nonchalantly. "Once I get the house I'm looking for she will, naturally, move in."

"Well you can still keep your distance," Grey muttered in an unfriendly manner.

"You mean no slumber parties? No wearing each other's clothes? No kissing?" House poked.

"Kissing?" Grey was instantly alert and clearly on edge.

"Well she kissed me this morning and it was really ni..." House didn't quite get to finish before Grey's fist connected with his jaw. "Ouch, ouch...," House tested his jaw gingerly and then noted: "Yep, that was the spot, pretty much spot on. Ouch, ... You young fool."

Grey was staring at House and then at his own fist like he didn't quite believe himself what had happened. Then it registered that his fist was hurting, too and gave a small yelp of pain and started to shake his hand trying to relieve the ache. House took his cane and limped to the other room to get two cool packs from the fritz, once he got them he immediately put one to his jaw and then limped back and gave one to Grey.

"I'm, ... I'm sorry," Grey said taking the pack. "I don't know what got into me."

"I have to admit that I didn't think you could get this jealous of me," House smiled ruefully. "Why would you think even for a moment that Kasumii would have any interest in an old, grumpy cripple? And you cannot think I have been forcing myself on her as she would have broken my other leg for me too had I tried anything of the kind."

"I... I wasn't thinking," Grey admitted throwing himself on the couch to nurse his fist. "Your shirt was driving me nuts all last night. And not just during the drinks. I actually stayed outside your building to see that Kasumii really left for the night! And though she came out almost immediately, I just couldn't get the sight of your shirt on her out of my mind for the rest of the night! Neither of you have really given me any reason to be suspicious, but... I'm sorry."

"Suspicious mind and quick reflexes," House mused. "I actually like that in a man. I just wish you had demonstrated a little more of those traits before. I wouldn't have jerked your chain quite as hard as I did had I known."

"You did it on purpose?" Grey stared at House.

"That's what I do," House told him. "I like to poke and see what comes out. Sometimes I get a little more than I expected. You didn't do or say anything stupid to Kasumii, did you? She didn't seem to think so but she is still a bit too trusting and forgiving."

"I wouldn't!" Grey insisted. "It was quite obvious that she was clueless to what you were doing and anyway, as I hadn't told her about my feelings before last night she had no reason to think I would mind anything she did with you or anyone else."

"But you did tell her last night?" House checked.

"Yes," Grey smiled somewhat self-deprecatingly. "I assumed from your actions that if I wasn't going to do something, then you were."

"You got that right, though my _something_ would not have been same as yours," House pointed out. "She was getting confused at your obvious interest and lack of any action. Had you chickened out again I would have forced it out of you in some totally unscrupulous manner. .. Actually, I think I did it anyway."

"Yeah, you did," Grey agreed. "Sorry about the punch anyway."

"Hey, not the first I have received," House shrugged it off. "And some of them have been less deserved."

They lapsed into a companionable silence for a moment but before they could re-start the conversation Kasumii came back with Aiko. Blythe had gone to work. Kasumii looked at the two men in the room with some suspicion, as she should have since both of them were using cool packs to nurse injuries.

"What is going on here," she asked. "Why are you using a cool pack on your jaw, House-san?"

"Just taking care of a bruise," House explained. "You were a little rough with me this morning, you know."

"Right," Kasumii scorned. "And was I _a little rough_ with him too?" she indicated Grey.

"Apparently," House responded shamelessly before Grey could open his mouth.

"No, no, that is not going to work," Kasumii took Aiko out of her pusher and put her in the crib. Then she turned to the men with hands on her hips clearly meaning to get to the bottom of this business. No nonsense allowed. "What is going on? Does this fighting have something to do with last night? And your _little joke_ House?"

"Sort of," House decided to give a little. "This is more just finishing the conversation that I mentioned before. Nothing for you to worry about. Guy stuff, you know."

"Really?" Kasumii looked at Grey who decided that an apologetic shrug was his best bet here. "Somehow I'm right in the middle of this all, and yet the best explanation I'm getting is that it's just _guy stuff_?"

"Yep," House confirmed. Kasumii turned back to Grey.

"Yep," Grey didn't think he ought to risk more either.

"You two, both, speak several languages fluently, yet the best explanation I can get out of you is _don't worry your pretty little head about it?_ Is that really what you are telling me?" Kasumii was beginning to fume.

House and Grey exchanged a telling look and then turned to her and said in unison: "Yep."

"Men!" Kasumii huffed indignantly rolling her eyes.

"Yep," House agreed wholeheartedly with her.


	47. Time off

_The amount of money mentioned here is deliberately vague as I live in Europe and have no idea how much the sum I need would b__e nor how much it could be, so it's just a big sum of money which will be enough for a specific purpose that will be revealed later – unless you have already figured it out, of course :)_

**-----------------------**

It was Thursday night and the first Poker Night since Aiko had arrived on the scene. It wasn't the first time there had been a break on the Thursdays – though House sort of assumed that the other guys met somewhere else when his place wasn't available – but this was the longest time he had gone without poker. He had actually considered not starting again, but he figured that he would see how this one night went and decide then. Besides, if he got the house he was looking for, chances were that the games were over anyway. He had informed the guys that no booze was going to be available so if they wanted any, they had to bring their own – he hadn't needed to tell them why that was the case now, since he had run into them at the Dry Cleaner's and had had Aiko with him. Besides once he had testified on the trial, Aiko's existence had become public knowledge through the papers.

The three guys arrived all together and they had a huge stuffed panda with them. The dry cleaner handed it over saying: "My wife said that this is too big, that it would scare your kid, but we figured that any kid of yours has to be used to big scary things, so here. Hope she likes it, if not now then when she grows a bit."

House was a little taken aback but accepted the gift with thanks and let the men in. Blythe was there too and he introduced her to the men: "Mom, this is the Dry Cleaner, the Guy from the Bus Stop and the Tax Accountant. Guys, this is my mother. No need to be afraid of - or for - her, she married a marine. And though I would very much like for you to find this out for yourselves, she won't let me so I have to warn you: she is an experienced poker player." House turned to his mother then showing the toy. "See what they got for Aiko."

"How nice," Blythe took the toy and examined it closely. "I especially like the fact that the eyes are painted on and not buttons, much safer that way. Yes, I like it very much and I'm sure Aiko will like it, too. She is asleep now, but we will introduce her to her new toy tomorrow morning. Thank you gentlemen!" The guys beamed.

Once Blythe had seen to it that the snacks were ready and within easy reach and all had something to drink – either their own drinks or coffee or soft drinks – they settled down to play. It didn't take Blythe long to gain the respect of the guys. Their consensus was that it was no wonder they had been steadily loosing to House all these years since the game was obviously in his genes.

They had been playing for about an hour when there was a knock on the door.

"You weren't expecting anyone else were you Greg?" Blythe asked.

"Nope," House was mystified, but he got up to go and see who it was. "It cannot be Wilson as he would have used his key." House got to the door and found Cuddy on his doorstep. "Cuddy? What is it?"

"The verdict is in," Cuddy said triumphantly. "The judge was just about to call it a day, and send the jury home for the night but they came to an agreement just before that."

"Is this the civil case against that plant man?" The Tax Accountant asked.

"Oh," Cuddy realised suddenly that House wasn't alone. "Yes, that is the one."

"So? What happened?" Blythe wanted to know.

"We won!" Cuddy gloated.

"Well of course we won," House stated impatiently. "We had a rock solid case. But what I want to know is how much it hurt them?"

"Well, we cannot know for sure what happens in the end since they may appeal, but here is a sum," Cuddy gave House a piece of paper.

"That's not much," House frowned. "You rake in bigger donations on regular basis. I would have thought the hospital's reputation would be worth much more."

"It is," Cuddy was nearly chortling with delight. "The hospital got a very nice sum, as did the rest of the victims, but that sum is yours."

"Mine?" House was totally unable to understand what Cuddy was going on about. "How is this sum mine? I'm one of the victims – or Aiko is, how could you know already how much is mine?"

"Because that is the money the jury specifically named for you," Cuddy smiled. "The lawyers called it _hero money_. But the point is that because you were the one who found out what was going on and because of Aiko, the jury gave you this amount of money for your emotional pain and suffering!"

"But... but ..." House was totally speechless. Blythe couldn't wait for him to recover, so she came over and took the piece of paper from him.

"That's a tidy sum," she understated. "Even after the taxes."

The guys got up from the table to check the sum, too and they had to whistle. It was indeed a tidy sum.

"If this is any indication of what the rest of the money is like the jury really decided to make them pay," The Guy from the Bus Stop said out loud for all of them.

"They got what they deserved," Cuddy announced nearly viciously.

"Good job, doctor," the guys congratulated House.

"Are you having a poker night?" Cuddy asked looking around and taking in the surroundings.

"Yes, but you are not staying," House immediately forestalled her. "I cannot let you play with my buddies here. You have so many tells it's embarrassing."

"I do not!" Cuddy stated indignantly.

"Cuddy, I can tell over the phone when you are bluffing!" House reminded her. "Really, poker is not your game. Besides Lisa junior, Greg junior and Jimmy junior need their sleep."

"Leona, Trey and Greer!" Cuddy countered him immediately. "How many times do I have to tell you I'm having two girls and a boy and in no case am I naming any of them after us."

"Regardless of their names they still need their sleep," House refused to be budged.

"You cannot boss me around just because I'm expecting triplets," Cuddy told him, making the poker guys eyes nearly pop out when they took a closer look at her luscious form.

"Yes I can when they are my triplets," House pointed out to her – nearly making the guys faint.

"That doesn't matter, I'm still your boss," Cuddy insisted.

"Not fair, we are not at work now! You cannot pull rank **now**," House claimed.

"Lisa, please," Blythe decided that it was time for her to intervene. "Greg may not say it very tactfully, but really, you need your rest. Trust me when I tell you to get all the rest you can now, because later you really wish you had. Please?"

"I suppose you are right," Cuddy relented. Truth to tell her feet were killing her, but she was not going to let House win. However, taking advice from an older, experienced woman was a different matter. Accommodating Blythe was not giving in to House. "Ok, I'll go home and rest since you think I should."

"I do," Blythe smiled – knowing full well what Cuddy was doing. "Come on, I'll walk you to your car."

Once the ladies were outside the guys turned to stare at House. "Well, when you finally decide to have children, you really decide to have children," the Dry Cleaner stated for all of them.

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Sunday morning House took his time in starting the day. Friday had been a day of jubilation at work but by Saturday the jubilant feeling had very much dimmed for House since he was starting to feel like the latest exhibition in a circus side show. There had been a story in the papers about the trial, the verdict and especially about the _hero money_ that House had got and why. He almost decided that this was payback for the _Peter and the Wolf_ remark he had made to Blythe's therapist. Apparently the wolf really had ended up in the zoo. All of a sudden nearly all the Friday's clinic patients wanted to see Dr. House. And they all were absolutely convinced that they had _Blastomycosis_, even if they had been nowhere near any of the places where they could have got it. After one hour of it, House had stormed into Cuddy's office and told her that there was no point in him doing any clinic hours until this had died down, since he didn't get any real patients anyway.

At first Cuddy had been unsympathetic but when she had come out of her office to assess the situation and one teenage girl had fainted at the sight of House and her friends had gone into a frenzy – not over her, but in an attempt to get close to House and gush to him how they absolutely loved babies – even Cuddy had been unable to claim that House was exaggerating. In the end she had to relieve him of clinic duty for now. She also had to instruct the security to patrol the corridor outside House's office. House didn't much budge from his office and when he had to he tried to look his most forbidding, glowering at all who came near him. He had been planning to stay home at least till Monday, but they got a case only an hour after he had left the clinic. Fortunately it had turned out to be a Zebra, and once they had found out what the decease was lying about, the STD had been easy enough to diagnose.

That however meant that House had the Sunday off, completely. He started the morning by introducing Aiko to her new toy – he had decided to wait till Sunday to make sure he had enough time, though it seemed that Aiko was indeed used to _big and scary_ things already. House took Aiko up on the bed with him and put the panda to the side. He helped Aiko sit up supporting her securely. They had some conversation first, Aiko, too was experimenting with some baby sounds. Then House brought the panda a little closer but still made sure that Aiko felt secure in his arms. He didn't have to as it turned out; Aiko took one look at the panda and wanted to explore it. She poked its eyes and tried its ears and chortled happily all the while and then ended up hugging her new softest friend. They played with the toy for a while and then started the normal morning routines of bathing and breakfast.

Later that morning Blythe came downstairs to get ready for a day in the park. Chase and Foreman were joining them as well. Cameron had drawn clinic duty, so she was unable to come. They took their time in getting everything together and deciding who was going to carry what and once the boys got there they gave them their burdens and set out for the park. Before they left, though, House gave them the last chance to back out.

"You do know that everybody will think we are gay once we get to the park?" House reminded Chase and Foreman as he gave them things to carry.

"They didn't think that of the guys in _Three Men and a Baby_," Foreman said.

"That was fiction," House pointed out. "In real life _real_ guys don't go to the park with babies unless they have the baby's mother with them, or..."

"I think we can live with it," Chase insisted thinking that he at least was so obviously straight that nobody would take him for anything else.

"Chase my boy, with your great hair you will be the most obvious gay guy in this group, so I'll ask you again: are you sure?" House shook Chase's equilibrium.

Chase blinked a couple of times and then he look at Aiko, and made up his mind: "Well if that is true, I will just have to tell anyone who wants to pick me up that I'm with you, won't I? The point of this outing is to spend time with Aiko, not to pick up chicks, so I'm fine. Let's go."

"Since you're sure, yeah, let's go," House agreed and once again took the lead as they walked to a nearby park.

"Are you sure that you will all be labelled as gay even when I'm with you?" Blythe was curious to know once they reached the park and House helped her to find a place for them.

"Well I could let you make Chase into your toy-boy," House promised generously. "But other than that, yeah, I'm pretty sure. You are, unfortunately, too clearly my mother."

"Oh, well, as Chase said, we are here to spend time with Aiko, so who cares," Blythe shrugged, getting a blanket out of their packs.

They spent a nice afternoon in the park walking, talking and eating the lunch Blythe had prepared for them. Blythe did most of the talking and asking questions but as she also made sure that she didn't intrude in anything private or hurtful Chase and Foreman were quite happy to fill her in on their ambitions and plans for the future. But even though they did talk about other things as well, Aiko, of course, was the centre of attention. And she quite enjoyed it rewarding her admirers with smiles and earnest baby noises.

Once they got home from the park Chase and Foreman took their – almost regretful – leave from Aiko and left House and Blythe spend the rest of the day in peace with their precious little girl. All in all House felt that he was ready to face a new week again – even with excessive _hero worship_, though he hoped that that had died down by Monday.


	48. The Gremlin

_The alerts seem to be down again, but I still check the reviews. Thank you, you have been very nice :)._

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"So, why didn't you come with us yesterday?" Chase asked Cameron on Monday morning as the three of them waited for House.

"I had clinic duty," Cameron told him shrugging.

"Not when House invited us, you didn't," Chase observed. "You volunteered only after you had told House that you had to be there."

"What are you talking about," Cameron wouldn't look at him – which immediately alerted Foreman to the fact that Chase had to be right.

"He is right, isn't he?" Foreman asked. "You decided not to come and made up the clinic duty to have an excuse. Why? You love Aiko; we all do. Why would you pass a chance to spend time with her?"

"I see her everyday at work," Cameron shrugged. "I don't need to see her on the week-end, too, to love her."

"Uh-huh, that's not enough of an explanation," Chase refused to drop the subject.

"I'm curious, too," Foreman confessed. "I would have thought you'd find something like this impossible to pass over."

"Look, guys, can't you see what he is doing?" Cameron turned to face them with an earnest look on her face.

"House?" Chase exchanged a puzzled look with Foreman. "What particular thing are you talking about?"

"He is using Aiko to get you tied to place, to make sure you have no other life," Cameron explained. "So that once the triplets arrive he can have you in reserve ready to take care of them whenever he wants to."

"Cameron, even without Aiko, or any of this, none of us has a life," Chase reminded her.

"And of course he is _using_ us, if that is what you want to call it," Foreman agreed. "He told us the day we found out about the triplets that we would be drafted into helping with them all. What's your problem with that? It's not like we are the parents or anything. If it really gets too much we can leave; though I cannot see myself just leaving Aiko and never looking back. And the triplets are her siblings. So I'll be Uncle Eric as much as I can."

"You have no problem with House adding you both to this bizarre family he is collecting?" Cameron stared at them.

"I have no other family anywhere anymore," Chase shrugged. "It's kind of nice to belong. And as Foreman said we don't really have any of the real responsibility; we're just Uncles."

"Yeah, I agree," Foreman nodded. "Though I still do have family, but things are a little complicated there. It's nice to have a family where you don't need to try and be anything; you can just be."

"You can't be serious!" Cameron stared at them. "You have medical degrees, careers; things to do places to go and you are happy to put all that aside for a chance to baby-sit?"

"Well I wouldn't put it quite like that," Foreman stated. "But if you mean that we have no problem with this situation, at least not for now, then yeah, we are happy. But what I don't get is why you are suddenly having problems with House's family? You were the one who insisted on celebrating when Tritter failed to get Aiko away from us. You were totally devastated – like all of us were – when Aiko was ill. You are the one who has been eager to baby-sit Aiko any chance you get. Why are you suddenly back-pedalling like crazy?"

"I just ... This all happened so suddenly and we all just sort of drifted into this situation," Cameron said defensively. "I just sat down and took a good look at it all and I didn't like what I saw."

"And what you saw was Cuddy having House's babies," Chase muttered a little angrily.

"What has happened to you Cameron," Foreman tilted his head to take a good look at her. "I'm not saying that I'm surprised at you for carrying a torch for House still; **that** is you. But other than that you ... I don't know. When we first met you were nice in the extreme, totally professional sure, but House was right to call you a fluffy toy made by grandma. That was your personality and that was what everyone responded to. Now, I don't know what has happened to you. Did someone feed you after midnight and turn you into a Gremlin or what?"

"Gremlin?" Chase was lost.

"An old movie, 1984 I think, google it," Foreman instructed him.

"I don't know what you mean," Cameron replied. "Just because I have learned to be a little tougher than I used to be does not mean that I have changed in any essential way."

"I don't know if it's tougher that you have become, but you have changed," Chase stated.

"And you haven't become tougher," Foreman noted. "You've become harder."

"Really?" Cameron scoffed. "Harder? What is the difference?"

"Miss Tanaka is tough, or she will be in time. You, as you are now, you are hard. And that isn't what you were meant to be." Foreman said somewhat regretfully.

Cameron stared at him in shock for a moment. She felt almost like he had slapped her. However she refused to acknowledge that his words had hit their mark: "So if Miss Tanaka is so wonderful, why aren't you trying to date her?"

"He isn't stupid enough to tangle with her Fu Dogs," Chase laughed.

"Damn right I'm not," Foreman agreed. "I like my life and limbs just fine as they are."

"Fu Dogs?" Cameron frowned. "What is this, some new male code? Gremlins? Fu Dogs?"

"I meant her guardian lions," Chase decided to explain. "House and Grey. Though I'm not quite sure you can really pair them, since House was guarding her against Grey, too, until he proved himself worthy."

"How exactly did he prove this worthiness?" Cameron asked a little snidely.

"I'm not quite sure how," Foreman admitted. "But it did involve fighting. That bruise on House's chin last week... Grey gave it to him."

"And that made him _worthy_?" Cameron looked disgusted. "Men!"

"That is what Miss Tanaka said, too," Chase told her. "But I think there was a little more to it than that. Anyway, I suppose it showed House that Grey was serious about Miss Tanaka."

"Be that as it may, the point is that Miss Tanaka is out of circulation," Foreman concluded.

"Poor you," Cameron sniped.

"Now that is exactly what I mean," Foreman pointed his finger at her. "About a year ago, you would have laughed at me but been still sympathetic. Now you are all claws and fangs. A Gremlin. So the question remains: who gave you food after midnight?"

"I'm assuming you don't mean that literally?" Chase clarified from his side of the table. "Because if you just want to know who changed her, I think I know."

"Are you going to put this on House?" Foreman asked. "Because I don't think that would be fair as he really hasn't given her any reason to think he sees her as anything but one of his fellows."

"Except for the great ass," Chase pointed out. "He has seen that!"

"Leave my ass alone," Cameron snapped at him.

"Hey, I have," Chase defended himself. "You can't say that I haven't."

"Ok, fine," Cameron agreed. "Just ... just shut up!"

"Are you blaming House for this?" Foreman got back to the subject at hand.

"Not really," Chase mused. "Though he definitely is the cause. But Cameron has really done this to herself. She is trying to be more what she thinks House would find attractive."

"Who knows what House finds attractive?" Foreman exclaimed. "The only thing in common I have noticed about the women I think he has found attractive is that they are all women!"

"Well they have all been good looking, but Cameron has that covered," Chase itemised. "But I think her main model is Stacy."

"Is not," Cameron insisted.

"She would be a fool to try and model herself after Stacy!" Foreman shook his head.

"Hey, guys, I'm still here," Cameron huffed. "Right in the same room with you two."

"So are you trying to turn yourself into an improved version of Stacy?" Foreman queried. "Because if you are, you ought to note that Stacy didn't last."

"I'm not trying to change myself to please House," Cameron insisted glaring at them.

"Good," Foreman stated. "Because he **too** is out of circulation now. If Cuddy was having just one child, things could be different, but now that House will have four kids... That is already way more commitment than he has ever been prepared for. There really is no room for anything even half serious with a woman."

"What about Cuddy?" Chase asked. "I mean do you really believe the story about them not having had sex?"

"They said they hadn't," Cameron maintained.

"And surely they would not lie about something like that," Foreman patronized. "Though, I have to admit that I find it hard to believe that House would not shout it from the rooftops if he got that close to Cuddy."

"There is that," Chase granted. "But that just means that he is going to try harder."

"Just because Cuddy is having his children does not mean that he will never be involved with any other woman," Cameron huffed.

"Probably not," Foreman agreed. "But it does mean that she has to accept Cuddy, and the fact that House will not want any more children."

"You cannot be sure," Cameron was not convinced. "But even if you are right, some women might be willing to make sacrifices."

"If you want to be with House, you better be willing to make sacrifices," Foreman asserted. "And a lot of them."

"The thing is," Chase pondered. "I'm not sure he would let you."

Before Cameron could say anything they were interrupted by sounds of House's arrival. Cameron turned her back to her fellow doctors and the guys got back to whatever it was they had been doing when the discussion ensued. House settled Aiko into her corner with Kasumii and then came to the other room to get his mug of coffee. While he poured his drink he took a searching look round the room assessing his team. Something was amiss.

"So why is Cameron sulking in her corner?" House asked condescendingly. "Have the boys been mean to you?"

Cameron didn't answer, she just got up from her desk and flounced out of the room House sent an exaggerated look of surprise after her and then turned to Chase and Foreman. "It seems that the boys really have been mean to her. Anything I need to know?"

"Just a difference of opinion," Foreman said keeping his eyes on the journal he was reading.

"Riiight," House didn't sound convinced. "Fine, keep your secrets. Just remember that if they start interfering with your work, I will torture you all."

With that he returned to his office.

"He will, too, you know," Foreman said to Chase.

"I know," Chase agreed. "We better make sure that it doesn't interfere with work."

"And how will we do that?"

"We'll let Cameron simmer down, and then we never speak of this again," Chase shrugged.

"Ok, we can try that," Foreman nodded and returned to his reading.


	49. House

_I've been unexpectedly busy this weekend, but fortunately I have couple of days off from work so I can update a few more times before Wednesday. Thanks for the reviews! However, I need to warn you all that I really have to bring this story to an end – there will be a sequel I promise! – because there is something else that I really have to write before mid-may. Once I have done that, I will get on with the sequel. But there will be a few more episodes of this story still._

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A couple of days after Cameron had stormed out of the Diagnostics House was in his office with Wilson. Kasumii was getting Aiko's bottle ready and House was entertaining his daughter with Mr. Panda while they waited.

"I've noticed Cameron has been a bit moody lately," Wilson said. "Do you know what is going on?"

"Not really," House replied. "Monday morning she had some kind of an argument with the guys but I'm not quite sure what it was about. I did send Mother to her, and they did talk but I was told it is privileged information. Mom says she is now working through some stuff and I'm to leave her alone."

"You? Yeah, leaving something alone is really your big suit," Wilson scoffed.

"You're forgetting that Mother can make me do things I don't wanna," House pointed out ruefully. "Her mere presence was enough to make me behave in court, remember?"

"True," Wilson nodded. "So you really are leaving Cameron alone."

"Don't have a choice," House shrugged. "At least not until Thursday when Mother leaves for her first marriage counselling session with Dad."

"Ah," Wilson was enlightened. "That does sound more like you. Though I think you ought to take into consideration the fact that Blythe will also return from her trip and you could find yourself in hot water if you have upset Cameron too much."

"True, true," House agreed. "Of course, if she has settled down by Thursday, I may leave her alone entirely. I'll just worm the whole thing out of Chase at a later date."

"You will, too," Wilson acknowledged shaking his head at his friend. "So where did Aiko get that Panda? It's bigger than she is."

"The guys gave it to her last Thursday," House explained absently.

"Guys?" Wilson was puzzled for a moment. "YOU HAD A POKER NIGHT! And you didn't invite me." Wilson glared at House.

"I didn't think you wanted to play with Mother so soon again," House defended himself.

"Yeah, that is true," Wilson calmed down – until the penny dropped. "Your mother was there? But not me? Your best friend, your only friend."

"Hey, I have other friends," House claimed.

"We have had this conversation before," Wilson reminded him.

"But that was years ago!" House dismissed. "Anyway, it does not change the fact that I didn't think you wanted my mother to wipe the floor with you again, so soon."

"And did the other guys fare any better?" Wilson asked pointedly.

"Of course not," House said. "But for them it was a new experience. Besides I couldn't just not invite my mother! She lives upstairs! She would have found out that I had had a poker night and hadn't let her in on it. It's one thing to make her sit upstairs watching Aiko during the Hooker night, but Poker night – no can do."

"You have not had a Hooker night!" Wilson tried to make it a statement, but there was just a teensy bit of doubt in his mind which made his statement sound almost like a question.

"Relax," House decided to have mercy on him. "Mr. Little hasn't seen any action in such a long time that I'm fairly sure he has forgotten how."

Wilson sighed in relief but before he could start chewing House's ear off for the scare Kasumii came back from the other room with Aiko's bottle. They settled down to talking about other things for half an hour while House fed Aiko and Kasumii saw to it that the nursery corner was neat and didn't need any supplies.

House had just finished feeding Aiko when his cell phone peeped indicating a message. He looked at it and then he got up.

"Infant," House said to Kasumii – who no longer bothered to glare at him. "Get Aiko ready for an outing, just an hour possibly two but no more. I'll get Mom and Cuddy. Meet us in the lobby."

"If we are going in your car," Kasumii interrupted. "We are not likely to fit in very comfortably so are we driving any distance?"

"Not that far, but you have a point," House admitted. "Ask Grey if he has time to join us. He can give you a lift."

"Hey! What about me?" Wilson cried indignantly.

"Don't you have patients or something?" House asked in mock surprise.

"Yes, I do," Wilson admitted. "But that doesn't mean that you couldn't be polite and **ask** anyway."

"And then you would say sorry, you have patients and we would have wasted time on pointless niceties with exactly the same outcome," House pointed out.

"But I would have felt better," Wilson remarked.

"Right; and that is my mission in life: making people feel better," House was at his sarcastic best.

"Ah, you are right," Wilson rolled his eyes. "What was I thinking? I totally forgot I was talking to you. Sorry. I'll just toddle off to see my patients and leave you to spread misery and ill will to the world." Wilson left the office with House, who was heading for Cuddy. They turned to their respective destinations at the corridor. As they separated Wilson told House: "I expect a full report when you get back!"

"You'll get it," House promised. "Or at least as full as you can handle!" House was grinning all the way to Cuddy's office. He was sure Wilson's imagination was going to be working overtime until his return.

Cuddy was doing paperwork at her desk when House barged into his office, once again without knocking.

"You know, it would be nice if you knocked before you entered," Cuddy told him. "Even if only once in a while."

"Hey! It wasn't that long ago that I did knock!" House claimed. "If I do it too often you will start expecting it and then were will we be."

"I can't imagine." Cuddy muttered. "Who knows, I might even end up thinking I'm your boss."

"Exactly!" House was so glad Cuddy had got his point. Cuddy gave him her best glare.

"So what is it you want now," Cuddy sighed knowing that there was no getting rid of House until he had had his say.

"Get your coat," House told her. "I need to show you something. It'll take only an hour or so. I need your opinion."

"Just like that? In the middle of a work day?" Cuddy asked. "I don't think so."

"Oh, don't get difficult now!" House whined. "I already have Mom waiting in the lobby and Kasumii is getting Aiko ready and she is even drafting Grey into this so that you can sit more comfortably in the car. Come on, don't be difficult."

"It sounds like quite an expedition," Cuddy observed, curious against her better judgement.

"Yeah, and you are the only one who is holding it up," House urged her.

"Fine," Cuddy was sure she was going to regret agreeing to this, but she also knew that until she knew what it was all about she would not be able to do any work anyway. She got up and got her coat.

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Less than half an hour later House parked his car in front of a house and let Cuddy and Blythe out of the car. As he didn't have his chair Blythe carried Aiko when they walked to the front door. Kasumii and Grey joined them almost immediately as they had been able to tail House's car all the way. A woman – clearly a real estate agent – was waiting for them at the door.

"House!" Cuddy gasped once she had recovered enough from he initial surprise.

"Yes Cuddy?" House smirked.

"Not you, I was just stating that it's a house," Cuddy said impatiently. "And it's a huge house. In fact it's enormous!"

"But it is beautiful," Blythe noted with a secretive smile. She had been equally surprised when she first saw their destination but after one questioning look at her son, she had started smiling. Obviously she had read House's mind – or at least enough of it to be fairly sure where all this was leading.

Cuddy looked at the house. It was huge but it was in proportion. It did not look cumbersome or contrived. Though the main part of the house was two stories high, the ground floor seemed to be L-shaped and the part that faced the other street was on one floor. There was a huge Japanese Chestnut tree on the front lawn seemingly sheltering the entrance to the house. It was difficult to say for sure from the front but Cuddy thought that the house probably had a fenced back yard. The neighbourhood, the yard, the tree were perfect for Aiko, but what in the name of all that was holy was House going to do with such an enormous house!

"Are you out of your mind House?" Cuddy wondered out loud.

"Probably," House agreed with her. "In fact I'm probably a whole lot more out of my mind than you can even guess right now. But reserve your judgement till the end of this tour, because regardless of my mental state I still want your opinion of this property."

"Fine, I'll look it over for you, but I will be very, and I mean, very surprised if I end up recommending the purchase to you." Cuddy shook his head.

They toured the house. The real estate agent told them that it had been recently remodelled to operate as a bed and breakfast place. For that reason it had also been made handicap accessible with a lift to the second floor. Upstairs they found six bedrooms, two big ones at each end of the corridor both with en suite bathrooms and four smaller ones in between with two shared bathrooms. Downstairs they found one more bedroom with toilet and a shower near it though not en suite. Most part of ground floor was taken by the living room, dining room and kitchen which also had room for a small breakfast corner. Through the kitchen there was access to a small self-contained flat obviously meant for a housekeeper or a cook. The flat had a spacious bedroom, nice living room and a very small kitchen, mostly meant for making breakfast or evening snacks. From the main part of the house it was also possible to descend to the basement where they found a small gym, a steam room with showers and a Jacuzzi.

Once they had toured the main house they went through the living room to the side entrance which lead to the annex or granny-flat as the agent called it. It was obviously the part of the property where the owners had intended to live. The annex was a two bedroom flat with a spacious living room that had a window alcove big enough to serve as a dining area. The kitchen was not very big but well fitted. The flat had its own front door which gave to the other street. Outside they did indeed find a fenced back yard suitable for children and dogs.

When the tour was over the estate agent left them alone saying she would be back in half an hour to get the key but that till then they could have the house to themselves.

"Before you go, could you tell us why this is being sold?" Blythe inquired.

"A divorce I'm afraid," the agent replied regretfully.

"Oh, I see. There seems to be quite a lot of that going around." Blythe noted mildly.

The agent left them alone and Blythe took Kasumii, Aiko and Grey with her as she decided to take another look at the house leaving House and Cuddy alone.

"Are you thinking of starting a bed and breakfast place or what?" Cuddy asked trying to understand what House was up to.

"No, it's much more simple than that," House rubbed his forehead trying to find a way to explain himself. "Come on sit with me on the stairs."

They sat down and Cuddy turned to House to find out what all this was about.

"Do you have a plan for taking care of the triplets while you work?" House asked Cuddy.

"Well, I'm only just getting used to the idea of having them so I haven't really given it much thought. Why?"

"When we assumed that you were going to have only one baby, I had no intention of being closely involved in his or her life," House revealed. "Sure I meant it when I said that I would help, but you would have been the child's only parent. I would have been more like an uncle or something. But now there are three of them and the situation is different. I really need to be more involved because you really need the help. That also means that Aiko will be even closer to them than originally planned. If we are going to co-parent the kids, we need to be closer to each other. And I mean that literally. No way can it work if we both live where we live now. Besides, even though you do own your house it is not big enough for three kids."

"Are you asking me to live with you?" Cuddy wasn't sure how she felt about that possibility.

"Hell no!" House replied instantly. "Even if we were madly in love with each other we couldn't live together. Not you and I. We are too different in many ways and way too similar in some other. If we lived together one of us would murder the other within six months if not sooner."

"Then what are you talking about," Cuddy was puzzled.

"I would like for you to move into this house," House said.

"How would that help?" Cuddy didn't feel particularly enlightened. "If you stay where you are living now, we will be even further away from each other than we are now and if you move to live in here as well then how is it different from living together?"

"I was thinking of moving into the granny flat," House stated.

"I see," Cuddy said to win time to think because she surely did not see.

"Yeah, I know, a most unconventional solution," House squirmed a little. "See, the idea I have is that you, Kasumii and the kids would take over the upper floor, mother would live in the housekeepers flat – or if she doesn't end up divorcing Dad then we get a housekeeper. I will live in the granny flat and the ground floor is common ground. That way I have my own space, you have your own space and when we cannot stand each other we can retreat into our corners. I know it would not be easy, but I cannot see how else we could be parents to the kids."

"So we would be parents to the kids," Cuddy repeated. "What about us? What would we be to each other?"

"Friends?" House suggested. "At least when I'm not getting too much on your last nerve."

"I need to think about this," Cuddy felt confused and not a little overwhelmed. House was behaving responsibly, a shocker in it self, he was being rational and putting somebody else's need ahead of his own. Sure, ever since Aiko had entered his life he had shown himself a good parent, but it was still something so new that whenever Cuddy came really face to face with it, it still tilted her world.

"That's fine," House was agreeable. "I need to decide on the purchase fairly soon, but even if you cannot agree to this idea, I'm sure we can come up with some kind of plan."

They got up, found the rest of their party and having left the key to the agent they went back to work. However, Cuddy was fairly sure she was not going to get much work done. She had much too much on her mind.


	50. Rules and regulations

"Did you ask her to move in with you?" Blythe asked her son when they were alone – but for Aiko – in his office after returning from the house.

"No mother," House answered gently. "Our relationship is complicated at best; so far we have managed to find a way to work together, but being parents together ... that scares the living daylights out of me. Whatever happens, however our relationship develops, we need to put the children first. So we have to go extremely carefully. But on the other hand, we do need to form some kind of a family unit for the children to feel safe in. So, I suggested to Cuddy that she moves into the main house with the kids and I will live in the granny flat. If you end up divorcing Dad, I would appreciate it if you could come and live in the housekeeper's flat and as long as Kasumii is Aiko's nanny she will live with Cuddy and the kids."

"I do admit that I was hoping you had found love, but on the other hand, your plan may well be better given that marriages seem to be disintegrating left and right," Blythe smiled ruefully. "I guess I should be used to it by now that you just do things differently from other people. You are gathering a very unconventional family for your children, but as far as I can see, there is no reason why it shouldn't work; possibly even better than most conventional arrangements. Especially if everybody does remember that the children come first. Do you think Lisa will agree to it?"

"I don't see why not," House mused. "Though we do need to talk about it more and figure out the rules and boundaries. But once we have come to an agreement that she thinks she can live with, it will be ok. After all, she does want what is best for the children, too."

"Are you going to tell James about this?" Blythe wondered. "I mean now. Obviously you cannot keep it a secret once you purchase the house and you and Cuddy move in."

"I think I better tell him now," House shrugged. "Otherwise he just might die of curiosity."

------------------------------

"Are you out of your mind?" Wilson stared at House eyes wide open. "You and Cuddy in the same house? It will never work. You will kill each other within a month! Besides, what do you think the board will say? I know they accepted my explanation about the conception of the triplets, and they can hardly have anything to say about you and Cuddy sharing custody of your children, but if you are living together some might think Cuddy cannot remain unbiased about you."

"Cuddy has never been unbiased about me," House exclaimed. "She has always had it in for me. Besides, we are not officially living together since we both have different addresses."

"Huh?" Wilson was lost. "How can you live in the same house and have different addresses? Or are you keeping your old flat and live there officially while in fact you are spending most of your time in your new house?"

"No," House smirked. "I will share the house with Cuddy but Cuddy will live in 186 A while I will live in 221 B. The house has two front doors giving to different streets! Brilliant don't you think?"

"So you are going to lie to the board?" Wilson was still a little uncertain about what House was talking about.

"No," House decided to be serious. "There is no hiding it really. But the board can hardly accuse us of flaunting our living arrangements when we have different addresses. Also they can hardly fault us for wanting to give our children a stable home with two parents especially as this arrangement makes sure that Cuddy does not need to sacrifice either her children or her job. At least no more than any parent has to these days."

"Yeah, that does sound sensible," Wilson had to admit. "I'm not so sure that it actually is sensible, but it is difficult to find fault with it."

"That is one of the reasons I proposed this to Cuddy," House said. "The kids come first, of course, but if we can keep the board off her back as well, more power to us!"

"I'm not sure you can keep the board completely off her back, but you are certainly making it difficult for anyone to go after her without seeming petty and mean," Wilson nodded. "Most of the board is currently on Cuddy's side anyway, but even if the couple of idiots who find her pregnancy difficult to accept manage to turn the others to their way of thinking Cuddy will still have a heck of a case to take to court if need be. But even so I still find it hard to believe she agreed."

"I said that I have proposed this to her," House pointed out. "I didn't say she has agreed, yet. But if we can agree on necessary rules and such I don't see why she should refuse."

"One reason does come to mind," Wilson suggested.

"You mean me?" House understood. "That is what the rules are for!"

"You don't exactly have a reputation of following rules, you know," Wilson reminded him.

"True, but in this case I would be able to know the rules and even influence them before I agree to them," House stated. "Sure it's not going to be all fun and games, but given the reason for this all, I'm sure we will find a way to deal with each other."

"I sure hope so," Wilson declared. "Let me know what Lisa decides and if she says yes, I'll try and sell this arrangement to the board again. Now get out of my office, I have patients to see."

"Fine, be that way," House huffed. "If patients are more important to you than friends sure I can leave. Are you coming over tonight? Mom said she will cook."

"Sure, what time?"

"Sevenish, patients and such permitting," House left Wilson's office through the balcony door.

----------------------------------

Blythe and Kasumii had just taken Aiko for a stroll and House was in his office with Grey who had been spending his break with Kasumii and the ducklings – though House had made some noises about this being the Department of Diagnostics not a coffee house nor a social club. Grey has stayed behind for a moment after Kasumii left as he wanted a word with House.

"Am I correct in assuming that once you buy this mansion we saw, you plan to live in the smaller flat and leave the house to Dr. Cuddy, the kids and Kasumii?" Grey ventured.

"That is the basic plan, yes," House admitted. "Cuddy and I still need to work out the details, so the deal is not yet certain. We are, neither one of us, exactly easy to live with."

"That may be a bit of an understatement," Grey muttered dryly. "Ok, I just wanted to be sure I was on the right page."

"So you approve?" House mocked him mildly.

"She does," Grey shrugged. "I'll just live with it."

"You seem awfully accommodating," House mused. "Usually young men are a little more impatient and demanding when it comes to _their women_."

"Possibly," Grey agreed. "I certainly have seen it often enough. I never quite approved of it. It's one thing to state your case and something else to demand someone else just fall into your plans no discussion needed."

"So you want to discuss things before you demand anything?" House was a little sceptical.

"As things stand now there is very little to discuss," Grey pointed out. "Kasumii had already made her commitment to Aiko before we met, so that's that for now. Later we need to see where things go, but I know what I want and I'm fairly sure she knows what she wants, too, so I'm sure we can figure things out."

"And what is it you want?" House asked curiously.

"I want to be around her for the rest of my life," Grey stated simply making House blink in surprise.

"Wow," House said after a moment. "That does simplify things. Yeah, I think you can indeed work things out if you know your mind that clearly."

That was pretty much the end of that conversation which was fortunate as right then Cuddy walked in wanting a word with House.

"I did my clinic duty!" House declared defensively the moment he saw Cuddy. Grey smiled and took his leave.

"This is not about clinic duty as you well know," Cuddy stated briskly. "You know perfectly well that I have not been able to think about anything but the house since you dropped that bomb on me."

"And now you have come to tell me it's an absolute fool idea and you will rather die than live under those conditions?" House gave Cuddy a very earnest look.

"I wish!" Cuddy sat down opposite to House. "I really wish I could say it's a foolish idea, but unfortunately for the kids it's pretty much ideal. Or as much as possible without us getting married and being conventional. Only I pretty much decided against conventional when I decided to have a child alone."

"Yeah, conventional would be really great for the kiddies," House scoffed. "Most conventional families – at least those who strive for it – are family hells with nice fronts. You know perfectly well what would happen if you and I got married. NOT an ideal situation for the kiddies. We both need our space and I don't mean just physically."

"I agree," Cuddy nodded. "We really need to sit down and work out the rules but I think, as long as we keep in mind why we are doing this, we can get to a working arrangement so I agree. Buy the house and I'll move in."

"Ok, thank you," House said.

"I'm assuming you are using the money you got from Landis to buy the house, and that is more than enough, but do you have enough cash for down payment now, before the money comes through?" Cuddy asked.

"Once the lawyers told us that Landis is not appealing and that his father is paying all the expenses and damages the bank was more than happy to extend any help I needed," House explained. "I'm fine. You can use the money you get from your house to set up college funds for the trips or whatever you want."

"Ok," Cuddy was happy to hear that. "Just one thing..."

Cuddy hesitated she was biting he lip and acting a little nervous. House got curious.

"And what might that be?"

"Sex," Cuddy just blurted the word out.

"But Cuddy!" House acted all shocked. "I know pregnant ladies can sometimes get really horny and all, but in my office? Right in the middle of a work day? Besides just remember what happened the last time. I don't think you can afford to get any more pregnant than you already are."

"Very funny, ha, ha," Cuddy huffed. "I meant when in the house. We are both healthy adults, we have needs. How ... What ... We need to have some plan for that, too."

"No sex on the premises unless it's with someone who lives there permanently," House stated simply.

"Meaning you?" Cuddy sniped.

"No," House shook his head deciding to be serious about this. "What I meant was that we are not, neither one of us, bringing dates home. If you want to go out and have sex with someone, fine, just don't bring him home until you are sure he is a keeper – and that he is ok with our arrangement. We are not subjecting the kids to a string of uncles who come and go."

"Just uncles?" Cuddy was a little grumpy at House's assumption.

"I would never introduce any of the hookers to the kids anyway," House exaggerated his indignation.

"What about those of your dates that are not hookers?" Cuddy asked dryly.

"Unmarried man with four children lives with the mother of three of them wants company with serious intentions," House summed in a monotone voice. He seemed to test the words and then he lifted an eyebrow at Cuddy. "Yeah, I can just see how that ad would cause a stampede at my door."

"You could be surprised," Cuddy muttered quietly. "Yeah, I see what you mean, though. Ok, I think that rule works once we refine it a little. Just... what if I, too cannot find a date?"

"Then hell hath frozen over," House observed. "There is no change you couldn't find someone who wants to do you, unless you get totally unreasonably picky. There are plenty of divorced guys around who never want to get serious again. It's only when you want to find a permanent guy that you will run into difficulties."

"What if," Cuddy wasn't sure asking this was a good idea, but the thought had not left her alone, "what if I want to have sex with you? I mean we will be in close proximity a lot and that could lead to ... something."

"Well, how likely, do you think, am I to turn you down if you show up in my bedroom wearing a smile and Chanel Number 5?" House responded smiling wickedly.

"So I can feel free?" Cuddy observed ironically.

"As far as I'm concerned no need to hesitate," House turned serious, though. "However, that is not the case where the kids are concerned. In fact we really need to think that possible scenario through as well because sex can really complicate things and though we will definitely argue and fight and even sulk and slam doors and all that even without having sex with each other, we need to make absolutely sure that whatever we do the kids don't suffer and that we can both go on living with them till they at least go to college or something. You need to know that once we start this, once the kids are one family, living together doing things together, sharing parents there is no way in Hell I will let you separate Aiko from her siblings. So if this falls apart and we get _a divorce_ or whatever we should call it, it will get ugly."

"Is that a warning?" Cuddy wasn't quite sure how to take this unexpected turn. It was difficult to believe House could be this serious about anything, well anything other than a patient.

"No, it's a promise," House shrugged.

"What if it is your fault?" Cuddy queried.

"If it happens you will definitely think it's all my fault and I will think it's yours, no matter what the objective truth may be," House pointed out. "And even if we could come to an amicable arrangement it will still be painful for the kids. So it will be ugly. Therefore, whatever we do, we need to try and think how it might affect the children especially in the long run."

"So if I'm feeling impulsive, I need to curb myself," Cuddy tried to lighten the atmosphere.

"Or treat yourself to a new vibrator," House suggested.

"Oh, shut up House!"


	51. Do people change?

_Thank you for the reviews. I'm winding this down gradually but I already have a name for the sequel. It will be called __**The Pregnant Days**__ and it will focus on how House deals with Cuddy's pregnancy, how Cuddy deals with her maternity leave, and what happens at the hospital with the new temporary Head of the Hospital – or is she/he temporary? (I know, I'm evil)._

----------------

On Thursday House got a new patient. The ducklings thought that was a very good thing since House had been somewhat moody all day as his Mother had left that morning to have her first marriage counselling session with John and their chosen therapist. Nothing wrong with the therapist, House certainly had him checked out, but he still worried about his mother. Blythe had assured him that she was just fine, and perfectly capable of taking care of herself but he hadn't really settled down until Blythe promised that if things got too difficult for whatever reason, she would fly home immediately – damn the expenses.

The team had worked all day to find out what was wrong with their patient, a twelve year old boy with extreme dehydration, kidney failure due to tubular damage, hyperthyroidism and developing diabetes due to problems with pancreas. Finally, some time after midnight House, diagnosed late-onset cystinosis - a disease that affects probably only about 2000 people around the world. Unfortunately it is one of those inherited diseases that there is no cure for. Fortunately there is a treatment though the boy needed a kidney transplant.

Once they had a diagnosis all they needed to do was to do the necessary tests to confirm and they could all go home. The ducklings were in the diagnostics room waiting for the results and having a snack when Foreman suddenly lunged at Cameron's plate taking it away from her.

"No!" Foreman cried as he whipped the plate away from Cameron. "Did you manage to eat any of that?"

"No, what is wrong? Is it rancid or mouldy or what?" Cameron stared at Foreman completely at a loss.

"Phew," Foreman said wiping his forehead. "Just in time. I was afraid I was too late and you had eaten already."

"Why, what's wrong with it?" Cameron was getting impatient.

"Nothing's wrong with the sandwich," Foreman explained. "It's just that it's past midnight."

"So?" Cameron didn't feel any wiser.

"Right!" Chase, who had been watching almost equally puzzled, suddenly realized what Foreman was up to. "Well spotted Foreman! We have only just got our cute Cameron back we better make sure we can keep her."

"What are you two blathering about," Cameron was getting angry. "If there is nothing wrong with my sandwich just give it back and stop fooling around!"

"No can do," Chase said regretfully. "We cannot risk it."

"You cannot risk **not** giving me my food," Cameron got a very purposeful look on her face and suddenly, without a warning she launched herself at Foreman and her sandwich. Not having got any warning, Foreman was completely surprised and Cameron actually managed to wrestle him to the floor. Unfortunately that didn't get her her sandwich as Chase reacted quickly enough to get it from Foreman and Foreman himself wrapped his arms around Cameron and rolled her underneath him.

"Do I even want to know what is going on?" they suddenly heard Wilson's voice from the doorway.

"Probably not," House's voice replied. "I however do want to know why, if you were having threesomes, I wasn't invited. I'm your boss after all."

"We are not having a threesome," Chase explained. "It's just that it's after midnight and Cameron tried to eat." Chase shrugged nonchalantly as if his words were clear enough. Wilson's look seemed to suggest that Chase seriously needed his mental faculties checked.

"Of course," House, however, seemed to get the reference immediately. Big surprise there! "I was wondering what had happened. Good call guys. For some reason I never suspected she was a gremlin though the signs were definitely there. Are you telling me that she has been back to her old self these last couple of days because you two have made sure nobody feeds her after midnight?"

"I am not a gremlin!" Cameron growled from the floor. "Tell Foreman to let me go!"

"Only if you promise not to eat," House said patronisingly.

"The only promise I'm making is that you will all seriously regret it if I'm not up from here and eating my sandwich by the time I count to ten!" Cameron yelled at them.

"That didn't sound very cuddly," House pondered. "What do you think Chase, did that sound cuddly to you?"

"No, I have to admit that didn't sound cuddly at all," Chase played along.

"Foreman, are you sure she isn't a new breed," House asked Foreman earnestly. "You know a mutation that turns into a gremlin if you don't feed her after midnight? Because she definitely sounded Gremlinish to me."

"Oh for crying out loud," Wilson had had enough. "Foreman, let her up. Chase, give her her sandwich. House shut up. Man, am I the only adult in this room!"

"Hey, I'm here, too," Cameron reminded him from the floor.

"Yes, but you are wrestling with Foreman," Wilson pointed out.

Wilson's interference seemed to do the trick though, because Foreman rolled away from Cameron and they both got up and Chase set the sandwich on the table next to Cameron's coffee mug.

"Is this how you run your department," Wilson turned to House.

"Hey, they are giving me great practise for the triplets," House exclaimed.

"Except that the triplets are two girls and a boy," Wilson pointed out.

"That is Cuddy's opinion," House rejected. "I still say Jimmy is a boy."

---------------------------------------------

The next morning House could not sleep late thought it had been early hours of the morning when he and Wilson had brought sleeping Aiko home to House's flat. But as Kasumii had gone home with Cuddy the previous day, she was also coming to work with Cuddy, so House needed to see to Aiko's needs himself in the morning. Especially as Blythe, too was away. Naturally he didn't bother being quiet, so Wilson, too woke up when House started Aiko's morning routine. Of course, Wilson was more used to getting up at an ungodly hour – as House described it – in order to get to work in time, but this morning Wilson actually had no morning patients, so he could have slept later had he been allowed to. Though it turned out that he didn't mind, he was actually happy to help House with Aiko.

They got to work at House's usual time. Wilson went to his office and House handed Aiko to Kasumii intending to go and do his clinic duties. As he handed Aiko to her Nanny and got up from his wheelchair he noticed something about Kasumii's movements. He observed her for a moment and then he smiled widely.

"Saddle sore?" House asked Kasumii smiling a little wickedly.

Kasumii turned to look at House, first suspiciously and then she turned bright red. "Could ... Do you think ... Could you just once, just once, **not** tell me when you know something personal about me?"

"No," House smirked. "Not a chance. Especially not when it's something as juicy as this. So you didn't go with Cuddy last night, did you?"

"Well obviously it's useless of me to deny anything," Kasumii glared at House. "No, I stayed with David. Happy now?"

"Only if you are," House replied with disconcerting sincerity. It actually made Kasumii blink. "Are you?" House asked.

"Yes," Kasumii replied though she felt a little confused. "We had a long talk, too. He said that what he really wants is to grow old with me. If that means he has to wait for me, that's ok. I... I still need to think it through, but I like the idea of growing old with him. Even if we have to wait some time before we can actually be together, in the normal sense of that word."

"Good," House nodded. "Besides, by the time Aiko is six or eight you are still young enough to have children if that is what you want. And your training definitely qualifies you for any kind of work with children, including kindergartens. Since he isn't in any hurry you, too, have time to think things through. Good. It's good that Aiko can keep you around." With that House left for the clinic.

----------------------------

House got a phone call from his mother later that day. She had stayed the night at home with John, though sleeping in the guestroom. The therapy session had been that morning and Blythe promised she would tell House everything as soon as she got home, but she didn't want to talk on the phone. She was flying home that evening, though originally she had planned on staying till Saturday in order to pack some more of her things. She just said that she had got enough done for now. After the call House sat in his office and worried. Blythe had sounded downhearted and House didn't like that.

Blythe got home in early evening. The cab driver carried her cases up to her door – obviously she had some secret powers! – and soon after that she came down to talk with House. House had Chinese take away waiting, it just needed a couple of minutes in the microwave. While they ate they talked about the weather, Blythe's flights, and her general impressions about the therapist but no details about the session. It wasn't until they were sitting on the couch nursing coffee mugs that Blythe talked about the session itself.

"I told John about the triplets," Blythe didn't look up from her coffee.

"I see," House replied, just to say something. "Well, it's hardly a secret. So what did he say?"

"He was happy," Blythe however didn't sound very happy. "He said it was great to finally have grandchildren and especially three all at one go."

"Three grandchildren?" House repeated. "Hmm. I suppose that does make it pretty clear what he thinks of Aiko."

"He doesn't think of her at all," Blythe stated with some bitterness.

"Mom," House tried to comfort her. "Maybe he just needs time."

"You don't believe that," Blythe smiled at her son.

"Well, no, but nobody would have believed a few months ago that **I** would want to be a father," House pointed out. "And not only to Aiko but to the triplets as well. People can change."

"Only you haven't changed," Blythe told House. "You have always had it in you to be a father. The main reason why you have avoided responsibility all these years is because you know how totally you would commit yourself once you did. You have only allowed yourself to commit yourself to your patients, the people nobody else can help because once they cease to be your patients you can end the commitment. But you have still always had this in you. Always."

"Mom," House squirmed a little finding her words hard to accept. "You could be a little biased here. I don't think anyone would agree with you."

"They don't have to agree with me," Blythe pointed out. "Their belief or disbelief does not change the facts nor my opinion. I know what I know. Just like I know that come November I will have two more granddaughters and one grandson."

"I keep telling you that you will have two grandsons and one more granddaughter!" House reminded her trying to lighten the mood.

"I may have," Blythe sighed. "But unless John can accept Aiko as one of his granddaughters he will not have any grandchildren at all. I cannot believe that I have been married for nearly fifty years to a bigot and never notice! How blind am I?"

"You are not blind," House hugged her. "It's just love that is blind. Nothing much anyone can do about it. Besides, if you think back to your marriage, how much time have you actually spent with your husband? And how much of that time has been such that would bring up these things?"

"Thank you, Greg," Blythe squeezed his hand. "But he needs to change. I told him that whatever happens with our marriage I am staying here. You and Lisa need me and even if you didn't, I don't want to live that far away from my grandchildren. So it rather looks like you are going to get a tenant in that housekeepers flat."

"Fine with me," House hugged his mother. "But don't give up as yet. This was just the first session."

"That almost sounds like you want me to stay married?" Blythe wondered.

"That really is none of my business," House said. "But I know you. You need to know that you have done everything in your power to save your marriage. If you give up too easily you will wonder about it for the rest of your life."

"You may be right," Blythe had to agree. "Anyway, we did schedule our next meeting a month from now, so I suppose I'm not going to give up easily. I really need to know that I have done everything."

"Wouldn't expect anything less from you," House stated.

"Thank you son," Blythe kissed his cheek. "I think I better get myself to bed. It has been quite a day."


	52. Boys and girls

_This is the penultimate chapter of this story. One more and then you have to wait for the sequel. Thanks for your reviews, thanks for staying with this story :)._

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Monday noon House was just finishing his hours at the clinic with an argument with the Evil Nurse Brenda. Brenda was of the opinion that he still had time for one more patient and House disagreed. Cuddy walked in on their argument.

"You have fifteen minutes left before you can sign off," Cuddy sided with Brenda. "Just grab a patient and stop being a pain."

She turned her back to them and House automatically dropped his gaze to check her ass. What he saw stopped his ready retort to his lips. He turned quickly to Brenda and saw that she had seen it too.

"Page her doctor, Helen Jordan I think," House told Brenda in a low voice and then he went after Cuddy grabbing her arm. "Ok, if that is what you want I'll grab a patient. You're it!"

"House, stop fooling around," Cuddy admonished him. "Get a _real_ patient, one of the ones who have been waiting for hours to see a doctor."

"Well, then they are used to waiting by now," House shrugged. "A little more won't hurt them." He then got a little more persuasive. "I need a consult in exam room three. Come on, won't take long. Unless you want me to ask your opinion about a very private complaint right here and in a very loud voice?"

"Fine," Cuddy snapped and turned to go to the exam room. "I can give you one minute. And I mean one." She walked into the room and found it empty; she turned to glare at House. "So where is the patient then?"

"Cuddy, it's you," House told her gently putting a hand on her shoulder and steering her to the exam table. "You have blood on your skirt."

Cuddy turned pale and swayed a little but fortunately they were at the table already and she was able to steady herself against it. House helped her lie down.

"Are you in any pain or discomfort? Even just a little?" House asked as he wheeled the ultrasound machine closer. "You cannot be in any significant pain or you would have noticed."

"No, nothing," Cuddy's voice trembled. "Just some discomfort in my back. I thought I had been sitting still for too long. I've had similar ache before though usually during my period."

"If we are lucky then that is what you are having now, too," House observed as he helped Cuddy bare her tummy.

"In case you haven't noticed House, I'm pregnant," Cuddy got a little irritated at him. "Usually you don't get your period when you are pregnant."

"And usually you don't surgically remove your brains either, when you are pregnant," House responded squirting some gel on Cuddy's abdomen. "But as a doctor you ought to remember that pregnancy does not always stop menstruation, especially not when..." House looked expectantly at Cuddy.

"Especially when you shot my ass full of fertility meds," Cuddy filled the blank with a sigh.

"Right," House nodded. "Though I still absolutely refuse to take any blame for that. Now lets see if the parasites are still feeling all warm and snugly in there." House turned to monitor so that Cuddy could see it too and then he started the scan. "Yep, no signs of distress in the peanut gallery; snug as bugs in a rug. Brenda is paging Helen so she can do a better exam and whatever tests she thinks are necessary. But my guess would be that you are having a period. Isn't it great to be a woman: period pains and morning sickness at the same time."

"Only you would gloat at a time like this," Cuddy glared at House – forgetting to distress over the possible danger her babies were in, which of course was House's point.

"Hey, while we are at this anyway, why don't we see who wins the bet over the sex of the triplets," House suggested. "At fourteen weeks we should get a definite answer to that."

"If we get a clear shot," Cuddy reminded him. "Why not, I want to monitor them anyway until Helen gets here, so we might as well find out for sure that I'm having two girls and a boy. I want to finally get a chance to rub your nose on something you got wrong!"

"Don't get too exited over that possibility as yet," House told her. "I haven't been proven wrong yet, and won't be either."

"Just do the scan and shut up," Cuddy told him concentrating on the monitor.

"Ok, zooming in, and there we have Lisa junior first," House refused to shut up, but then Cuddy hadn't really expected him to.

"Leona," Cuddy corrected him. "No juniors in this ship."

"Super tanker," House muttered not even nearly under his breath. "But it's a girl. No question. Then let's go to the left and find Greg junior."

"Trey," Cuddy stated firmly.

"And it's a boy! So far so good," House noted.

"Well the ones we agreed on are accounted for, what about Greer?" Cuddy asked.

"Jimmy junior," House tried to get a good angle for the scan. "He seems to be taking after his namesake and is refusing to co-operate. Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy, why are you being so mean to Mommy and Daddy?" House noticed from the corner of his eye Dr. Jordan entering the room quietly. "Is that ...?"

"An umbilical cord, yes," Cuddy observed dryly.

"Now what is going on here," Dr. Jordan asked playfully. "Are you trusting Dr. House over your own doctor again?"

"Helen!" Cuddy remembered suddenly why they were scanning the babies in the first place.

"I know," Dr. Jordan was immediately reassuring. "Nurse Brenda told me that you are bleeding."

"I'm not in any pain though," Cuddy reported. "Just some discomfort in my back. I didn't notice anything."

"Considering that she is having triplets because of fertility meds, chances are she is having a period," House gave his opinion. "Or she has just bursted a blood vessel. Anyway, you don't need me here anymore Cuddy, your doctor is here."

House took his cane and got ready to limp out of the room. Cuddy, however, stopped him: "Stay, please."

House looked down into Cuddy's scared eyes and sat down again but scooted the stool out of Helen's way. "You know Cuddy, I'm not very good at this hand-holding and encouragement thing," House pointed out.

"Well it's either you or Nurse Brenda, who would you choose," Cuddy tried to joke.

"Actually with those choices, I think I'd rather do without entirely," House stated.

"Could you hook her up on the stat monitor," Helen smiled as she handed the sensor to attach to Cuddy's finger. "I'd like to know what is going on with her, too. No, Lisa, stay down. I don't want you to get up before we know a little more of what is going on with you. Though, I have to agree with Dr. House that there is a good chance that you are just having a period."

"See, told you," House smirked. "And you said you couldn't get any more pregnant when I refused to have sex with you in my office last week."

"You were the one who said that I couldn't get any more pregnant and you were turning down an offer that wasn't even extended," Cuddy glared.

"Well, that's your story and I can understand why you would want to stick to it, with your doctor here and everything," House patronised making Cuddy completely forget what Helen was doing – and that was quite an accomplishment, since internal ultra is pretty hard to miss. "Now just give me your finger so I can attach this thingy-me-do to you. CUDDY! My dear. I'm shocked! And you a Dean of Medicine and everything. What is this world coming to?"

"Like anything could shock you," Cuddy muttered but allowed him access to the _right_ finger instead of the one she had first extended to him.

"Now settle down you two," Helen intruded, she was beginning to understand what Lisa had meant with her _count you blessings for not knowing Dr. House_ remark a month ago. "I can't see that there is any reason for alarm here, but I still want you admitted for observation overnight and I want to do some tests. But my initial reaction is that this is nothing serious. Better safe than sorry, though, so let's get you admitted. But did you want to know the sex of the babies? Wasn't that what you were doing when I got here?"

"Yeah," House nodded, feeling relieved though not showing it. "We got one boy and one girl but Jimmy junior was being un-co-operative."

"Greer!" Cuddy insisted. "Not Jimmy."

"Well, you can take a look now," Helen said nodding at the monitor. "From this angle you get a pretty good look."

House and Cuddy turned to the monitor and looked at their third baby – or parasite. After a moment Cuddy exclaimed: "Hah! Greer's a girl! So there, House."

"Three daughters and you," House muttered. "My life will be hell!"

--------------------------------------

"Are you disappointed?" Wilson asked House as they sat in House's office later that day after the news had spread all over the hospital. Some people were walking around with wide smiles having won the bets and others were giving House glares for having been wrong! See if they ever trusted him again.

"No, of course not," House said. "I wouldn't have cared if they had all been girls. In fact that might have been better."

"Why?" Wilson was taken aback.

"As you very well know the primary role model for a child is the same sex parent," House pointed out. "Now which one of us do you think is a better role model, me or Cuddy?"

"There is nothing wrong with you as a role model," Wilson defended his friend staunchly and automatically.

"Really?" House was extremely sceptical. "You have been borrowing Cameron's rose-coloured contacts again, haven't you?"

"No, I haven't," Wilson insisted. "Sure you have your irritating sides, but who doesn't. All in all there is nothing really wrong with you."

House was going to say something to that but just then Kasumii got back from her break – predictably she was with Grey.

"Now look at those two lovebirds," House said in a syrupy voice. "Aren't they cute?" He then turned a little away from them and stage-whispered to Wilson: "He got some last night, you know."

Wilson buried his face in his hands in a very familiar gesture. Kasumii gave House a mildly murderous glare – she didn't have energy for a stronger one as she had been glaring at him pretty much all day – and flounced into the other room, and Grey glared at House, too, only his was considerably stronger glare.

"You know," Grey ground at House. "Considering that I'm your physical therapist and there are times when you are completely at my mercy, one would think you would be a little more careful."

"Oh, Jimmy knows where I am at all times," House declared. "He knows who to go to if I suddenly disappear."

"Only given your behaviour chances are that I will just help him bury your body," Wilson stated getting up and leaving House's office in disgust – once again.

"Hey, what happened to the _there is nothing wrong with you as a role model_," House shouted after him. In response Wilson just threw his hands in the air. "Some friend he turned out to be," House grumbled to Grey who was shaking his head at House not knowing if he should laugh or just let go with his fist again.

"No, I wouldn't waist energy on hitting me again," House read his mind. "I'm too old a dog to learn any new tricks."

"Are you letting Kasumii be, or are you going to go on taunting her forever?" Grey asked a little threateningly.

"Relax," House told him. "Don't you remember? If I really go too far she is perfectly capable of decking me herself, and unlike you, she will not even hurt herself in the process."

"Yeah, I suppose," Grey conceded and took his leave – via the other room where he obviously reminded Kasumii, too, of her Aikido skills given the considering look she gave House through the glass wall. House just smirked in response and went back to his game.


	53. The Household

"So what do you think?" House asked Wilson.

It was Sunday and they were having a pick-nick in House's new house. House's team – this time with Cameron as well, Cuddy – who had got out of the hospital after one night of observation, only to endure House's endless taunting about all kinds of _periods_, Blythe – naturally, Kasumii and Grey – or Grey and Kasumii, House had taken to linking their names in all kinds of ways just to be annoying, and succeeding admirably – and naturally Wilson. Aiko, of course was the centre of attention; House said that she needed to stock on that since the trips would steal quite a bit of her thunder once they arrived.

Currently House and Wilson were sitting on a blanket under the chestnut tree with Aiko and Mr. Panda while Blythe and Cuddy were getting the pick-nick set up inside the house on garden furniture they had brought with them (ready to be set up in the back yard once they moved in properly) and Kasumii, Grey and the ducklings were playing with a Frisbee near by.

"It's a huge house," Wilson said eyeing the building.

"Well it has to be big enough for Cuddy and me," House pointed out.

"Hmmm," Wilson frowned a little. "You know, now that I have time to really consider the matter, it's not a very big building at all."

"So funny, Jimmy," House ended up smiling even so. He felt good, at peace and almost happy, though he wasn't so sure about the last emotion, it being somewhat strange concept to him all in all. However, he didn't know what else to call it.

"You know, I'm beginning to suspect that you like that Panda more than Aiko," Wilson suddenly observed out of nowhere.

"How so?" House wondered.

"You never let her play with it unless you are with her," Wilson observed. "And usually you have a hold of both her and her toy when you do. Yet it's her favourite toy!"

"And how long do you think it would be her favourite toy if I left her alone with it and it toppled on her?" House lifted an eyebrow at Wilson. "Mr. Panda is bigger than she is and though she is almost eighteen weeks old she could not push it away. She needs to feel secure with me first to enjoy the toy. Once she grows up to be bigger than it, then she can play with it alone."

Wilson stared at House like he had suddenly grown two heads or something. House frowned at his stunned friend: "What is it Jimmy?"

"Sorry, but this responsible House," Wilson shook his head disbelievingly. "I have seen you be a father to Aiko for about four months now, and I really ought to be used to it by now, but I still find myself disbelieving the evidence of my own eyes and ears. I'm so used to thinking of you as this irresponsible jerk who happens to be a brilliant doctor that seeing you as a responsible father – and one who thinks of everything – is just so disconcerting. It's great, don't get me wrong, I'm not wanting the old House back, not when this new, improved version is here, but I haven't quite adjusted as yet."

"If you have adjustment problems, how do you think I feel?" House scoffed.

"I don't know," Wilson was a little surprised. "You seem to be taking to it almost like a duck to water. Like this was what you were always meant to be, you just fought against it until now."

"Actually, Mom said something like that, too," House smiled ruefully. "She said that I had always been meant to be a father but that I had tried to avoid responsibility all this time because I always knew how seriously I would take it once I took it."

"House, it's a Sunday afternoon, I'm sitting under a big tree waiting for a meal to be served feeling relaxed and almost drowsy," Wilson itemised. "That was way too convoluted for me at this stage."

"Live with it," House instructed sliding down against the tree to lie flat on the blanket. "Here you have Mr. Panda." He handed the toy to Wilson and lifted Aiko up, above himself. Aiko smiled into his face as he lifted her up and down and moved her a little sideways, too, singing to her: _Ooki na kuri no ki no shita de / anata to watashi / naka yoku asobimashou / ooki na kuri no ki no shita de."_

Wilson hugged the panda and watched his friend, thinking how different things were than what they had been only a few months ago. Had some fortune teller told him last Christmas that this would be in the future, he would never have believed it. He hadn't sat there long watching House play with Aiko before the rest of the _family_ gathered under the tree, too. Blythe and Cuddy came from the house and the ducklings and Kasumii and Grey finished their game and they all sat down under the tree.

"What's that song you are singing," Foreman wanted to know when House finished it for the third time – much to Aiko's obvious disappointment.

"Just a children's song," House shrugged as best he could while flat on his back.

"The words go something like this: _Under the big chestnut tree / you and me / are playing happily / under the big chestnut tree._" Kasumii translated them.

"That's why this house got your attention!" Chase exclaimed looking up to the canopy shading them.

"And a good thing it is that it did," Blythe stated. "This is a perfect house for the family."

"House as the head of a family," Cameron laughed – it seemed to House that whatever it had been that had been bothering her for the last year or so was gone, and she really was back to her _cuddly_ self. "Who would have thought that a few months ago!"

"Not me," Cuddy laughed. "And especially I wouldn't have believed that I would be the one expecting his triplets!"

"I still claim it's not my fault," House maintained.

"And I think you did it on purpose," Cuddy insisted. "And nothing you can say will make me change my mind."

"Hey, people, help me here," House appealed to the rest of them as he carefully rolled over to lie on his stomach and placed Aiko on the blanket. She copied her father and rolled over, too only she ended up on her back. She seemed to find the patterns of light and shadow under the tree quite fascinating. "You are almost all doctors; tell Cuddy that I couldn't possibly do any of it on purpose! There is no way I could have known she would end up with triplets."

"You keep on telling us that you are always right," Foreman reminded him. "How are we supposed to know you didn't know this, too?"

"How's this for a clue?" House huffed. "Do you really think that if I had something to say about it all I would have chosen to be the father of three daughters? I mean, really!"

"He has a point there," Chase conceded. "Just consider: they are all the same age, or near enough, which means they will all hit puberty at the same time, start getting interested in boys at the same time, start dating at the same time, they will all have the prom at the same time..."

"Stop, stop, stop!" House yelled – though not loud enough to startle Aiko. "Have mercy on me! No need to paint the devils on the walls yet. It will be horrible enough when it happens, no need to anticipate any of it."

"Actually who I really feel sorry for are the boys who will try to date his daughters," Grey observed with some feeling. "He will put them through hell."

All the men present shuddered just imagining what it would be like to meet House as a potential father in law! The ladies, however, laughed.

Soon after that they moved inside to eat and discuss the house and its furnishings and colour schemes and curtains – or the ladies did. The men were more interested in what size TVs House was going to get and if he intended to have a game room or something. As far as the _decorating_ thing went, House said that the women could do what they wanted as long as they stayed out of his flat. That was declared oestrogen-free zone. Permanently.

The Sunday was spent firming the bonds of this odd family that House had gathered around his children. They laughed, talked even discussed different philosophies of child raising – though House declared that choosing the way the children were to be raised even before they were born and before anyone knew what their personalities would be was silly. To which Cuddy replied that they all knew already what their personalities would be like: difficult. No other possibility with House as their father. Even Aiko laughed at that.

-----------------------------------

_And that's all folks! _

_For now, that is. Hopefully I can go on with __**The Pregnant Days**__ in a few weeks time, early June latest if things go as planned. Till then, thank you for your encouragement and reviews. It has been nice. :)_


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